Living the Normal Life
by Queequegg
Summary: I'm BACK! Kitty & Kurt grow closer as they try to get through their last weeks of high school. It's never easy when you're an XMen: Dealing with natural disaters, powers fritzing, secrets revealed, and don't forget... prom! Kurtty
1. The Great Outdoors

'Leben die normale Lebensdauer' or 'Living The Normal Life'  
  
By Queequegg Written: August 2003 Rated: PG to PG-13 (just to be safe!) Pairings: Mainly Kurt/Kitty, but I'm sure you'll be able to find a few others in the background ; ) Disclaimer: I don't own either the X-Men: Evolution series or the X-Men in general. Each is the respective property of Warner Bros. and Marvel.  
  
General Author's note: It's been a VERY long time since I have published anything on ff.net, and this is my first X-men Evo fic, let me know if you like it. I'm a HUGE fan of Nightcrawler in general and of the Kurtty pairing, so of course here's my addition to the category.  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Chapter 1.  
  
It was a beautiful Spring day, the sun was bright and the breeze was cool. A few of the young occupants of the Xavier Institute had decided that it would be a great weekend for camping out in the wilderness of some of Manchester's surrounding forests. Professor Xavier himself had encouraged his student's idea, as this school year had been a rough one. The previous year his students had been revealed as mutants to the school and to the public. This only made the dreads of high school worse for the remaining few, and they were not looking forward to the upcoming exams before graduation.  
  
No one seemed more down in fact, than the usually jovial NightCrawler. Kurt Wagner's "outing" as a mutant had been a bit rougher than his peers. The young man not only had a mutant gift of teleportation, but he also had many physical mutations that made it harder for him to be accepted as normal.  
  
At first he was the only one of the institute whose mutation had not been revealed on the evening news. Because of his holographic image inducer the Professor had given him, Kurt was able to hide his true appearance at school and from others that would not understand. Since the news stations had only seen an "unidentified blue monster" they had not yet linked the two together.  
  
So, for the first time in his life, Kurt was not the one being shunned, cornered or stared at. So he separated himself from his mutant friends in a vein attempt to be "normal." He soon felt the guilt of his betrayal and revealed his teleportation powers to the entire school during a battle against the brotherhood. It was his girlfriend Amanda and unfortunately, her parents, who were the only ones aside from those at the institute that had seen his true self without his image inducer.  
  
To make things worse, Amanda was a non-mutant and her parents were none to happy to learn that there only daughter was not just dating a mutant, but one that resembled a blue, furry demon. So her dad put in for a transfer and they moved far away from "mutant high" at the semester break.  
  
So, here they were; Kitty Pryde, Evan Daniels and Rogue pitching their tents as dusk set in.  
"Hey, like, where did Fuzzy go?" Kitty asked, struggling to get her stake secured in the very solid ground.  
  
"He went on a hike, 'to clear his mind'."Evan replied. "Here Kitty, allow me." The mutant known as Spyke, for what was a very obvious reason at the moment, sprouted a large bone growth from his forearm, or "spike" as he called them, and shot it directly into the ground where Kitty had been struggling.  
  
"Thanks. Why don't you just go ahead and do the rest while you're at it." said Kitty as she sat down on a fallen tree and tossed her own stake aside in defeat.  
  
"Ah don't know how y'all talked me intah coming out here. Now ah'm just getting bug bites as ah sit around and dread the next few weeks of school." Rogue complained with her Southern drawl still prominent. She sat next to Kitty on the temporary chair and swatted a mosquito that had landed on her arm.  
  
"The next few weeks can't be all that bad, at least we're graduating. Don't you think it will be nice getting out of that school?" commented Kitty.  
  
"well, sure 'Little miss A +' wouldn't have to worry about final exams. Ya even took extra summer courses, so ya can graduate early with us! Me. Ah'm just hoping ah pass." Commented Rogue. Kitty sent a mild glare in her direction in response to 'little miss A+'. However, she decided to avoid the topic of school or grades and change the subject.  
  
"I don't know," came the young brunette's reply, "I'm not, like, an outdoorsy type either, but it is beautiful out here. And you have to admit, it's nice having a couple days without people glaring at you every few minutes."  
  
"Yeah. Ah guess. At least ah can get a little sun while we're here."  
  
"No kidding Rogue! Nice threads," proclaimed Evan looking out from behind the tent he had been working on. " Or should I say, lack of threads?"  
  
Rogue blushed deeply. She was wearing some awfully short, cutoff jean shorts along with a black spaghetti strap tank. As opposed to her usually covered skin to prevent contact with others, unintentionally triggering her powers.  
  
"Shut up, ah don't have to worry as much when it's just a few of us. And y'all know better than touch me."  
  
"I was just saying, you look good girl!" added Evan in his defense as he went back to putting up the second tent. Kitty smiled as she noticed Rogue's blush deepen.  
  
* * * *  
  
Quite a ways into the evening the trio found themselves sitting around the camp fire making S'mores.  
"I totally can't believe Kurt didn't even come back for food." said Kitty as she absentmindedly swirled her marshmallow above the flames.  
  
" I noticed he took his hammock... I doubt he'll even come back tonight." Evan said between mouthfuls.  
  
"Oh." Kitty tried to hide her disappointment. She wished that her best friend would let her help him through this, but for now she was trying to be respective of his wish for solitude.  
  
Evan stood up and stretched, while letting out a big yawn. "Well, I think I'm gonna crash. Goodnight ladies." And he retreated to the further of the two tents.  
  
"ya know, I'm pretty tired too." Said Rouge standing up, but not before carefully placing a hand on Kitty's covered shoulder. "Don't wait up too long for him, ok? He'll come around tomorrow."  
  
"Yeah, I won't. Goodnight Rogue."  
  
"Goodnight Kitty."  
  
The young brunette watched as her pale friend made her way into the other tent. She found herself not quite ready for sleep. Her mind was wondering and it was leading itself into the same spot it had been traveling to lately, to thoughts of Kurt. She wished there was something she could do or say to make him understand that he is so much better than he thought he was. He could never be a monster or a demon, in fact, he was quite opposite. He had the heart of an angel.  
  
Kitty found herself still sitting in her chair pondering her thoughts while staring into the flickering flames of the dying fire. The silence was broken by a soft *bamf* across from her and she could smell the faint brimstone odor as it dissipated into the cool night air.  
  
"Kurt?" She asked hesitantly. She squinted and peered into the darkness ahead. One of the appropriately named Nightcrawler's many powers was the ability to blend into the shadows, becoming virtually invisible in the dark. She knew that if he didn't want to be found, he didn't have to be, but she desperately hoped that he would show himself.  
  
After several seconds of silence he spoke up. "Vhy are you out here all alone?" She smiled when she heard his German accent behind her.  
  
"Because, like, my best friend totally left me hanging." she responded light heartedly.  
  
"Ja. I'm sorry Kätzchen, but I just needed to have some time alone. We don't really get much of it back at the mansion."  
  
The two chuckled at his last statement. Knowing all too well how hard it was to enjoy some privacy at their temporary home.  
  
Kitty sat smiling, looking back over her shoulder at the "floating" yellow eyes of her best friend. He stepped forward, more into the light of the fire and gave her an awkward hug from his place behind her.  
  
"I may have left you before, but at least I came back for you." He said into her ear. The tiny hairs on the back of Kitty's neck stood up as Kurt's voice sent a shiver down her spine, she wasn't used to his close proximity. She was almost sure she had felt his soft fur brush her cheek.  
  
Quickly trying to lighten the mood, she put on her best mock, damsel- in-distress voice, laid the back of her hand across her forehead and called out, "You came back for me!" She looked up at him and batted her eyelashes, trying not to giggle.  
  
He had stepped around in front of her and held up a small bag. "Of course mylady. You and the snacks." She smacked his arm and they both chuckled as she stood up shaking her head at him.  
  
"My hero." She added in her blandest tone.  
  
"So do you vant to come see the great view I found or vhat?" He asked, ignoring her sarcasm and trying to act nonchalant about it, even though his tail whipped about giving away his excitement.  
  
"Yeah, let's go." She said smiling as he took her hand preparing to teleport them.  
  
"Just don't look down okay." He quickly added.  
  
"Wait! What?!" Her eyes went wide with fear as they disappeared into a cloud of thick black smoke.  
  
End Chapter 1.  
  
So...? What did you think? I know slow start, but give me a chance. :)  
  
Here's a little shout-out to other Kurt/Kitty author's and their wonderful stories out there! Go read 'em. They're great!  
  
Kissing Friends by Kitka ID# 1129805 - cute, short and sweet!  
  
Sie Sind Schön by Wakizashi ID# 1354411 - Great story about Kurt dealing with being revealed as a mutant, with help from Kitty. Love it!  
  
last, but not least: Carol of the Bells by Neko-chan4 ID# 1345189 - Futuristic/AU Kitty returns to the mansion and meets up again with Kurt, contemplating her memories and thier relationship. SOOOO good. Neko-chan4 is an awesome writer, and I'm really sad that this fic hasn't been updated since June, but still the first 3 chapters are well worth the read!! 


	2. Conversations by Moonlight

Chapter 2.  
"Keety, open your eyes." She heard her friend plea and slowly opened them to find herself staring out at one of the most beautiful skies she had ever seen.  
"Wow." Was all she could muster as she gazed out at the stars. The moon was full and bright and lit up the landscape around them. It was at this moment that the young girl realized where she was. In a hammock, suspended between two trees, that were right along the edge of a drop-off so steep that it could be considered a cliff. She gasped and flinched back, causing the hammock to swing.  
"It's Okay." He said trying to ease her and the swinging. "You know I von't let anything happen to you." Kurt placed one of his awkward three fingered hands on her shoulder to comfort her.  
" I know." She responded trying to hide her shortness of breath. "It just startled me is all."  
The moonlight reflected off his razor sharp canines as he smiled at her, shaking his head. "Do you vant to go back?" he asked.  
"No." She stated softly.  
With this she seemed more relaxed and they both eased into a comfortable silence as they sat gazing at the amazing scenery. Kurt leaned back more to get into a nice lounging position.  
"Beautiful, isn't it?" He said, breaking the silence.  
"It's amazing. Thank you for bringing me here." She followed suit and slid down to lounge facing opposite him, with her legs alongside him and his along her. He was wearing shorts too and when her bare leg rubbed against his velvety fur, she smiled inwardly. Kurt flinched a little and tried to move his leg away, but the shape of the hammock was causing them to slide back together.  
"Sorry." Kitty said, with a sheepish smile. "Do you want me to move?"  
"Nein. I'm uh, just fidgety is all." He assured her.  
Together they sat once again in silence, Kitty found herself feeling incredibly at peace. No more worrying about school, or mutant rights, or even Kurt. Everything was fine in the world. This comfort left her feeling a bit drowsy. Her eyes drifted shut and she felt the cool Spring night air blow through her hair. Then she felt something rub against her thigh.  
Kitty opened one eye questionably to find Kurt also dosing off and his tail gently swishing from side to side, occasionally grazing her leg. She smiled as she watched his peaceful figure at rest. It was an odd sight to see her friend so still. He was constantly full of energy and very rarely stayed in one place for very long.  
When his tail came to a pause, she gently began to scratch it ever so lightly, unintentionally set at making it stay in one place. She absentmindedly continued to to this as she began to drift back to sleep.  
"Keety!" He yelped suddenly, the German pronunciation of her name breaking the peaceful silence as he sprang into a sitting position.  
"What?!" Kitty questioned, so startled that she too sat quickly upright. When she realized that he had not yet answered she studied his face which look absolutely horrified.  
"Kurt? What's wrong?"  
"Ah. Nothing." He paused for a moment. "Eet's just that you, ah, startled me." He mumbled as he searched for words.  
"Oh." She said, feeling a little relieved. "I'm sorry if I startled you, it's just that your tail was twitchy, so I was just keeping it from..." She reached out to scratch it again in the same manner to better explain. With this the fuzzy elf flinched again.  
"Kurt! What's a matter, you like freaked when I bumped into you earlier tonight!" She finally proclaimed, exasperated. "Well?"  
"Keety..." He trailed off slowly and she waited patiently. "Eet's just that, vell, I'm not used to people touching me. Especially you."  
"But we do all the time, so we can teleport together or so I can phase you through something." She stated a little hurt and a little confused.  
"Ja, but, it's usually me grabbing you and it's usually more of a necessity. People don't touch me if they don't have to."  
This statement saddened Kitty. She knew of Kurt's fear that someone at school might accidentally bump into to him and feel his fur or notice that there's really only three fingers on his hands. They knew that he was a mutant and that was bad enough, he couldn't even imagine how they would treat him if they knew what he really looked like. She never realized, however, just how insecure he was about the rest of them at the Institute. They were all familiar with his true appearance and accepted him as one of them, their friend. She had also thought that all his time dating Amanda would have helped his confidence.  
"What about Amanda, I mean you guys did date for a few months, didn't that," She paused searching for the right words not wanting to embarrass him. "Help you feel more comfortable?"  
"Honestly, Amanda and I, ve just hung out more than anything else. She vas my first girlfriend and, well, I'm still a little shy vhen it comes to dating." He shifted his gaze, not wanting to look Kitty in the eye.  
"One of the first times ve kissed, my fangs cut her lip. Needless to say, it made me even more weary about letting her get close to me."  
As he continued Kitty realized how touched she was at his confession, she knew it must be hard for him to share this with her, but she was glad that he was finally letting her in, sharing his feelings and frustrations.  
"I'm sure she realized it was an accident." Kitty started, but was interrupted.  
"Ja, I know. I just can't help but remember the look on her face when it happened. It's the same surprised look I've seen on the faces of so many others vhen they accidentally brush against my fur or feel my odd hands. She vas just polite enough not to run away screaming like the others. Although, I can't blame them, I vould be frightened too." He finished softly, looking out at the night sky to avoid Kitty's face.  
"Kurt." Kitty was quiet, her eyes stung with tears she held back. She softly reached out and touched his silky cheek, turning his face so that she could meet his gaze. "Don't say that."  
"AND VHY SHOULDN'T I!?" he suddenly snapped back louder pulling away from her. "In case you haven't noticed, I'M A FREAK!" He held his tridactyl hands out in front of her as if to make a point. "I have pointy ears, a tail and fangs! My whole fucking body is covered in blue fur! I have to come out here, in the middle of novhere before I feel safe to not have my image inducer on. Even YOU vere afraid of me!"  
His hollering echoed, cutting through the silence around them. They sat staring at each other, their looks intense. Kitty softly spoke up.  
"I'm ashamed of the fact that I was once frightened by you, but I realized that I was being a fool." She spoke quietly, but confidently, looking in his yellow eyes. She could see his fury fading. "You're different Kurt, that's all, unique. It's a part of who you are, please don't be ashamed of it. Some of just need to be given the chance."  
His eyes closed, his anger gone. A tear ran down his velvety cheek and Kitty ever so softly leaned over and kissed it away.  
"I don't think I ever realized how soft your fur is." She said as she sat back.  
Kurt laughed a little to himself opening his eyes to look at her as a smile spread across his face. "You know, eet's not easy to keep all this fur so silky and shiny. I vork hard to be this handsome." Sometimes, even in times like this, he couldn't help being the clown.  
Kitty smiled and shook her head, he was obviously feeling better. She wasn't sure what else she could say to her friend to make him feel more at ease. So she decided just to show him that she had meant what she had said. So, she shifted over to his side of the hammock where she stretched out beside him, laying a head on his shoulder and draping her arm across him. At first he tensed up, but quickly found himself relaxing.  
The young man couldn't really find a complaint, he had always hoped that someday Kitty would be more comfortable around him and they could become closer. And right now her body snuggled up beside him was like heaven. It was no longer awkward, he no longer worried about his tail and let it wrap itself around her small waist. He didn't even mind that she could feel his three fingers as he pulled out the band holding back her hair and began to run them through her long brown locks. It was perfect.  
It was like this that Kurt found himself awakening several hours later to a shivering Katherine Pryde in his embrace. He looked down to see her unconsciously try to snuggle closer to him for warmth. As much as he didn't want their rare moment of such closeness to end, he was thinking that they should probably get back to camp before the other two had awoken. Besides that, the sky had gone from clear to dreary as dawn crept in and it looked as though quite the storm was rolling in, also evident by the distant rumbling of thunder.  
"Keety." Kurt traced a finger along her cheek and she stirred.  
"Mmmm... what?" She asked still half asleep.  
"Ve need to go back now eet's going to start raining on us."  
She slowly opened her eyes and smiled as she realized where she was.  
"Good morning."  
"Good morning Kätzchen."  
Suddenly a bolt of lightening struck down hard on a nearby tree. The force traveling through the plant and into the solid rock causing a loud crash as it shattered, loosening the edge of the cliff's face.  
"What the!?" Kitty bolted upright, but with no time to react, the entire ledge and all it's trees, including the two they were suspended from began to fall as the ground beneath them gave way. In an instant they were falling down towards the bottom of the deep valley. The two screamed out in fear as they fell, but fortunately they had only gone a short distance before Kurt was able to get in contact with Kitty and just barely teleport them back to the top.  
"Are you alright?" Kitty gasped. Kurt clutched his side, as he sat beside her. She knew it was incredibly difficult for him to teleport vertical distances and she could only imagine the strain it had caused him to move both of them. Still, they weren't going to be able to stay in this new location for very long, a rock slide had begun from the initial crash and it was still taking down trees and earth all around them. Kitty looked up just in time to see a large tree coming down on them.  
"Look out!" She screamed as she grabbed his arm in an effort to phase him out of harm's way. At the exact moment his prehensile tail whipped out around Kitty's ankle and in an instant Kurt had teleported them as close to the campsite as he could, all the while intangible from Kitty's power.  
A thick black cloud of smoke and sulfur appeared leaving behind the terrified pair. Kitty let out a gasp of pain as they "landed".  
"Ugh!" She coughed as she hugged her chest. "That really hurt." And she dropped to her knees, immediately followed by Kurt collapsing beside her.  
"I tried...to take... the brunt if it." He managed to cough out. "Keety, I..." Before he could finish, he was unconscious.  
"Kurt!" She yelled out as she checked to make sure his pulse was strong. He looked really bad, almost pale, if it was possible. He was covered in dirt and had a handful of small scrapes on his face and hands. As Kitty knelt beside him, she pulled his head up into her lap, the only thing she could think of to do for the time being. But before she really had the chance to start panicking, she heard her roommate call out just a short distance away.  
"Kitty! Kurt!" More shouts by Evan followed.  
"We're over here!" Kitty yelled out and was soon greeted by her friends who together, were able to get Kurt to the car and drive to safety.  
  
End chapter 2  
  
Author's notes: Yeah, yeah , I know. lots of talking, sorry, i enjoy dialogue. And they had a lot to talk about right then! but now hopefully (after he's woken up) Kurt will be back to his usual cheery (and hungary) self! ;) So tell me, is this interesting at all? I have so much that I want to happen, I was going to follow the two (and others) through prom, graduation and then focus on Kitty going to college and maybe intertwine a bit of the story line from the Mekanix comic series (if any of y'all are comic book readers). Of course, my version will involve more Nightcrawler. Also, there will be some interesting repercussions for Kitty and Kurt after their incident of teleporting while phasing... So, what do you think should I continue? let me know! Have a great day! 


	3. Recoveries

Chapter 3 - Recoveries  
The four students made it back to the mansion in record time. Dr. Henry McCoy had taken the still unconscious Kurt Wagner into one of the rooms in the school's infirmary. A very nervous and worried Rogue and Evan, as well as a few stray x-kids who had heard what happened, had been asked to leave the infirmary while their teammate's injuries were attended to. Kitty found herself in one of the other many stale rooms of the med-lab sitting on a cold examination table while Jean Grey cleaned up her small cuts and scrapes.  
Kitty had just spent the last ten minutes or so recounting the events of the morning to the professor so that he and Beast would know better what was needed for the injured teleporter. After she had finished the two retreated to Kurt's room and Kitty was left alone with Jean.  
"Ow." Kitty flinched a little as Jean dabbed some antiseptic on a nasty cut across her forearm.  
"Sorry." The redhead stated. "I'm sure he'll be fine, Kitty." She added, noticing that her young friend's attention seemed to be set on the door outside Kurt's room.  
"Huh?" She turned her attention back towards Jean blushing a bit as she changed the subject. "Oh. yeah. So what about the rock slide? Was anyone else hurt?"  
"Well, we just heard back from Ororo, she was able to calm down the storm and officials are saying that no one else was in the area. So, it's pretty much all under control." As Jean rambled on she noticed Kitty's look of discomfort.  
"Kitty are you all right?"  
"Ugh, yeah. I've just sorta felt like crap ever since we ported. I think I was just too freaked out earlier to notice." She absent-mindedly rubbed her stomach as she spoke.  
"Really? What symptoms do you have? Jean perked up with interest, setting down the bandages that she had finished wrapping Kitty's arm with and began feeling Kitty's head for a temperature.  
Since the young woman had graduated the year before, her and Scott had stayed on to be teachers at the institute. Jean had also started training in basic medicine with Beast, so she was all too eager to make a prognosis.  
"Nothing bad, I just like, ache all over and I'm still feeling a little queasy." Kitty answered as Jean placed the thermometer in her ear.  
"Well, you don't have a fever." She deducted out loud. "Honestly, it probably just has to do with the distances you teleported. I mean, a person's body isn't made to just shift from one place to another like that. I think I may even remember Kurt having mentioned that it used to bother him." Jean noticed the look of worry on her friend's face at the mention of Kurt.  
"Katherine" The professor called to her as his electric wheel chair whirred in her direction from Kurt's examination room.  
"Professor! Is he gonna be okay?" She asked eagerly as she hopped down from the table and ran to the professor's side.  
"Kitty, please calm down." The professor spoke in his ever soft and assuring voice. "It appears that, aside from a few small cuts and scrapes, Kurt is merely suffering from extreme fatigue and dehydration." he paused to watch Kitty take in the news, and noticed her face light up at the realization of what he had said. "Dr. McCoy has given him an I.V. for the dehydration and some good sleep should cure the rest of him. He'll need to take it easy for a few days, but he'll be fine."  
"Oh Professor! I'm so glad. Can I see him?" The young brunette was smiling from ear to ear.  
"Dr. McCoy is actually stitching up one of the small cuts on his forehead at the moment, and he needs some time to rest. Why don't you go take a hot shower and a nap. I'm going to go inform the other students of Kurt's status, but I promise to make sure that you are the first one that gets to see him when he wakes up." The professor smiled as he finished.  
"Thank you." Kitty smiled back and leaned over to give the wheelchair bound man a hug before running off.  
"I sense a much stronger bond between those two." The Professor said to the other telepath in the room. Jean merely smiled and nodded in return.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Several hours later Kurt slowly opened his eyes to find himself staring at the bright fluorescent lights on the Institute's infirmary ceiling. He laid there, his mind still fuzzy with sleep, listening to the rhythmic beep of the machine beside his bed as he worked on placing where he was. Suddenly, it hit him, the storm, the landslide, he had teleported them to the others, Kitty!  
"Keety!" Kurt sat up quickly in his hospital bed looking around. Instantly regretting his decision, he grasped his throbbing head and slowly laid back down.  
"Kurt! You're awake!" Kitty jumped up from the chair she had been waiting in and went to his bedside.  
"Keety, are you all right?" He looked up at her, his face full of concern.  
"Now that I don't need to worry about you, I am." Kitty smiled down at him. He reached up and touched the bandage on her arm with a concerned look .  
"It's just a cut, probably from the fall." She shrugged it off. "You've got a pretty nasty little one on your forehead there." She reached down, tucking some of his hair behind his pointed ears as she took a good look at the stitches on his forehead. He reached up and gently felt for the tough threads that were almost hidden among his fur.  
"How are you feeling fuzzy?" She asked in a soothing voice. He slowly brought his hand back down from the scar as he tried to come up with the best description for how he felt.  
"I feel like I have just gone through about fifty Danger Room sessions, with Herr Logan!" Kurt said smiling. "I just feel very worn out."  
"Well, the Professor says that you're just over exhausted from the strain of your power." Kitty explained.  
"Zat sounds about right, my whole body feels weak, and I'm starving!" Kurt seemed none too surprised by the diagnosis, Kitty was sure that he had probably pushed his powers to the limit before.  
"You know, all things considered, I'd say that's not too bad. Besides, it has an easy remedy: rest and food." Kitty commented as she helped Kurt slowly adjust his hospital bed to a sitting position. After he was upright, Kitty pointed out the small container of Jell-O that had been placed on the bedside table.  
"Dr. McCoy thought you would need to start off small." Kitty explained.  
"Ah man, he knows that I have an accelerated metabolism," Kurt began to protest, but before Kurt could finish groaning in complaint to the small portions of food, Kitty had grabbed a bag that had been tucked under her chair and set it on the bed in front of him.  
"Lucky for you, they "accidentally" gave me four Gutbomb Burgers with my Garden Burger." She said casually with a huge grin on her face.  
Kurt gaped at the bag for a moment noticing the BurgerTime logo across it. An Equally large smile spread on his face.  
"Keety! You're my savior!" He dug into the bag, the aroma enticing him as he unwrapped his first burger and finished it in about three bites.  
"Eeeew. Like, I know you're starving, so I'll ignore your lack of manners." Kitty playfully complained.  
Kurt just shrugged his shoulders and continued chewing. He appeared much more content after swallowing the first burger and crumpling his wrapper into a ball.  
"So really, how are you doing Keety? I mean if I feel like this, I can only imagine how you feel."  
Kitty sat down on the end of his bed and pulled her legs up under her. "Aside from my entire body aching, and the queasy feeling in my stomach, I feel fine."  
Kurt nodded. "The queasiness vill go away soon, but you'll probably be sore for a few days."  
"Is this speaking from experience?" Kitty asked, raising an eyebrow.  
"Vell, let's just say it's not the first time I teleported further than I probably should have." He paused as if trying to remember the event, as he dug into the bag, unwrapping the second burger. "I've had others complain that teleporting a longer distance, is not the most... pleasant experience." His words were somewhat muffled by his mouthful of food.  
He swallowed and then looked her in the eyes, his seriousness catching her off guard. "I'm glad that you're okay."  
"Me too." She responded softly. "So much for our relaxing weekend away." She added with a hint of sarcasm.  
"Yeah, but the first part vas good." He smiled at her and his tail wrapped itself around her ankle as she smiled back.  
After a few moments of comfortable silence he dug into his bag and took a big bite of his third burger.  
"UCK! Vas is this?!" He made a look of disgust.  
"That would be my Garden Burger." She said laughing at the look on his face. "Hand it over fuzzy."  
"Gladly! How do you eat that?"  
She playfully stuck her tongue out at him before taking a bite of her own sandwich.  
  
End Chapter three  
  
Author's notes: Okay, I know that was short, but I'm not quite done with the next section and I figured I would give you this while you wait. :0)  
  
Raskolion Phoenix - Sorry if you thought I spoiled it! I just wanted people to know that he wasn't going to be down and out for the whole fic. ;)  
  
Much thanks also to all who have reviewed! Nightcrawler03, Rook , Fantasy Cat, Quill of Molliemon, Weary-Traveler, Ophelia, Beboots and JB. You guys rock!!! 


	4. and Discoveries

Chapter 4 - and Discoveries  
  
Monday came all too soon for the young students at the Xavier Institute, and with that came school.  
"Zis sucks! I spent most of my weekend sleeping and I still feel exhausted." Kurt declared to no one in particular as he entered the dining room and made his way to an empty seat at the table.  
"Yeah well, welcome tah the lives of the X-men. We can't enjoy anythang normal." Rogue responded as she watched Kurt make a rather large plate of pancakes.  
"I'm sorry that your guy's relaxing weekend didn't end up being as much." Jean spoke up from the opposite end of the large table. "But at least you're almost done with school."  
"Yah know, you say that like it's a good thang." Rogue rolled her eyes.  
"Well, isn't prom this weekend? That should be fun." Jean added trying to cheer Rogue up, oblivious to the look Kurt was giving her that read, 'don't go there.'  
"Oh yeah, maybe if ah had been asked by somebody." Rogue pushed her plate aside, stood up and left the dining room.  
"You know, for a telepath, you're ..." Kurt stopped when he saw Jean's glare and decided to let it go.  
"Whaoh! What's up with Rogue?" Asked Evan as he joined the group for breakfast.  
"I should know better than to try and make conversation with her this early in the morning." Jean said, rubbing her temples.  
Soon the other students were all making their way down to breakfast. Bobby took a seat beside Kurt who was on his third plate of pancakes.  
"Still hungary from yesterday, huh?" Bobby asked, eyeing his friend devouring his food.  
"Ja. I feel like I haven't eaten in weeks." Kurt answered between bites.  
"That's apparent." Bobby shook his head as he started piling food onto his own plate.  
"How's Kitty feeling?" Asked Scott just joining the conversation. "Actually, where is she?"  
Kurt glanced around the room.  
"You know, I haven't seen her all morning." Commented Jean.  
"I should probably go make sure that she's up. If she feels half as vorn out as I still do, I'm sure she did not vant to get out of bed zhis morning." Kurt stood up, shoving the last of his pancakes in his mouth and ported up to the hallway, just outside Kitty's door.  
"Phew." Kurt stoppped a second to catch his breath. "I guess I'm still not back to full strength." He said quietly to himself before knocking on Kitty's door.  
"Keety are you decent?"  
After no response Kurt slowly opened the door and stepped into Rogue and Kitty's room. Glancing around he smiled to himself. He had always enjoyed the drastic difference between the two roommate's sides of the bedroom. Rogue's gothic posters and black comforter as opposed to Kitty's which was covered in pink butterflies. As he studied the bedspread, he was somewhat surprised to notice it shift from Kitty's movement below it.  
"Keety? You'd better get up, or you'll be late for school."  
She didn't really respond, but seemed to be at an unease, stirring a bit and murmuring something softly.  
"Keety." Kurt came right to her bedside and went to gently shake her shoulder to rouse her, but instead his hand phased through her intangible body and he quickly pulled it back.  
Kitty gasped and her eyes darted open wide in panic. Her body was still intangible and she was sinking, like quicksand, into her matress and blankets. This only seemed to heighten the young girl's panic and she began thrashing about, all the while sinking more and more until just her face and arms were visible.  
"Keety!" Kurt reached out, but realizing that he couldn't grab her was unsure of what he should do. "Keety you're awake, it's okay."  
"Kurt?!" her voice was scared and shakey. "Kurt, I can't. I can't make myself solid." She was throughly freaking out. He could see tears streaming down her cheeks. She was frantically reaching for him, but always passing through his grip.  
"Keety, you need to calm down." He spoke sternly and she stopped moving, her gaze was fixed on him. "Concentrate, you can do it. Just concentrate on me." his voice became soft and assuring.  
Her shallow breathes seemed to steady and she closed her eyes for a moment to gain her composure before she looked up at Kurt and grasped his hand. Once Kurt had a hold of her, he helped pull her out from the bed. As she emerged, once again solid, she slumped down to the ground her grip still tight on him.  
"Are you alright." He asked softly as he knelt beside her and wrapped his arms around her in a protective hug. Her body shook as she continued to cry into his shoulder. His hand gently rubbing her back in a slow soothing manner.  
"Keety what happened?" he asked quietly.  
"I couldn't do it, I couldn't make myself solid, I thought I would never stop falling." She whispered her answer, somewhat muffled in his shirt.  
"Let's talk to the Professor. He'll know what to do." Kurt stated.  
"No. It's nothing." Kitty pushed away from Kurt looking up at him.  
"It didn't look like 'nothing'." Kurt argued, looking worried.  
"Really, I'm okay. I'm just tired and I was having a bad dream that's all." Kitty looked at Kurt who seemed to not be buying her story.  
"Please Kurt it's nothing." She pleaded.  
"Okay." He said softly, a little unsure of his decision.  
"Thanks." She said her mood perking up. "Gimme fifteen minutes to change, okay?" She stood up gesturing to her pink pajama pants and white T- shirt.  
Kurt couldn't help but smile at her. "Yeah, okay. I vill be downtairs."  
  
End Chapter 4 Author's Notes: Sorry, that was a little short, but it was a good place to break. Otherwise the next chapter would have been too long. Again, thanks to all that have been reading. Don't forget to review, let me know what you thought!  
  
Nightcrawler03 - You know, I'm a bit embarassed to say, but I don't think I know exactly what Kätzchen means. I know it's pretty close to the German word for cat, and Nightcrawler has ALWAYS called her that, so I know it's his nickname for her and I just assume it means something close to cat or Kitty. :o) 


	5. A Monday to Remember

Chapter 5 - A Monday to Remember  
  
Kurt decided to waste some time waiting for Kitty by walking instead of porting. He strolled down the hall, stopping by his room to stuff a few stray textbooks and homework papers into his backpack. He went over to his messy desk and found his holowatch sitting atop a pile of junk. Attaching it around his wrist, he switched it on. He watched his reflection in the mirror as the holographic image flickered. He stared at the illusion and the five fingered, tailless, pale, smooth skinned boy stared back. He loathed his image inducer and found it to be a miracle all at the same time. He hated that he was so different, yet also despised that he had to hide himself. The young man had often wondered whether he would be wearing this contraption for the rest of his life. Would he have to keep coming to the Professor to update the image to fit his age? Would the Professor possibly ever find new and better technology? Maybe one that would also mask the feeling of his fur and fingers so that he would be able to shake hands without giving himself away? Would there maybe be a day when he no longer needed to hide from humanity?  
"Some day." He said quietly to himself, picking up his heavy bag and heading down to meet Kitty.  
As Kurt descended the stairs he found Kitty waiting for him, sitting on the edge of one of the several couches in the living room. She was all dressed and ready to go, in some low-rise jeans, flip flops and a red Johnny-collar tee. She didn't notice Kurt observing her outfit.  
"Hey." He said as he met with her, getting her attention. She turned to look at him, her pony tail flipping.  
"What took you?" She asked smiling in curiosity.  
"Vas do you mean?" He raised an eyebrow.  
"I told you twenty-some minutes ago, that I'd be ready in fifteen."  
"Vas?" Kurt looked at his watch, surprised by the time. "Oh, I didn't realize."  
"That's okay, but we'd better book it. The other's went on ahead, but I figured we would just take my car." Kitty smiled holding up her keys, the light reflected off the glittery word "princess" on one of her many key chains.  
"Ugh." Kurt moaned in complaint as he rolled his eyes, always fearing for his life and keeping his breakfast down when Kitty was behind the wheel.  
"Lay off it, Fuzzy! I was gonna let you drive." She tossed the girlie key chain to him and they made their way out to the garages.  
For Kitty's birthday the previous year, her parents had arranged to have a new car delivered to the mansion as a gift. The car was also meant to make up for it being yet another year with her parent's full of excuses as to why they couldn't find time to come and visit. There was no doubt that Kitty's parents loved her, it was just that they weren't very keen on the idea that their beloved daughter was a mutant. While they knew that attending Xavier's Institute would be the best thing for her, they didn't really want to have anything to do with it.  
Kitty had gone home every summer, but this last one, as she had stayed to take summer classes. Her parents however, had never once made it to any of their scheduled visits, always canceling at the last minute. Kurt remembered the crushed look on Kitty's face when she had heard that her parents would be missing the fourth birthday in a row of hers. The new, silver, Volkswagen Beetle had arrived the very next day. All the other kids were quite jealous, but it took a couple of months of Kitty's resentment to wear off before she really started driving it.  
The truth was, Kitty didn't really know how to drive it either. Ever since she had gotten over her anger, she just hadn't found time to learn. While Kurt always complained about it, she knew that he was more than happy to teach her stick shift.  
They made their way to school in mostly silence, except for Kurt's occasional humming along to the oldies station. Kitty stared out at the morning sunlight, still a little shaken by her wake-up call. A Beatles song came on the radio and Kurt turned it up, strumming his fingers on the wheel.  
"Baby you can drive my car!" Kurt sang along, turning and smiling at Kitty to see if she had caught the lyrics. She giggled a little, but mostly at how cute Kurt's accent sounded as he continued.  
"Yes I'm gonna be a star! Come on Keety!" He pleaded her to join in. She rolled her eyes, but finished the chorus with him.  
"Baby you can drive my car and baby I love you!" They both sang.  
Kitty could have sworn that she noticed Kurt blush, even through the hologram, as he finished that last line and abruptly turned his full attention back to the road. He had stopped singing and Kitty watched his face trying to read his expression. She ws about to say something when he turned down the radio and changed the subject.  
"So vhat happened this morning? Is everything better now?" He asked seriously.  
"Oh. Yeah. Like, I was just having a bad dream and I'm still a little worn out from this weekend. I'm sure that's all it was." Even as she said the words she knew that they weren't true, she knew it was something more, but didn't want to deal with it at the moment. So, instead she turned the radio back up, a signal to Kurt that she was done talking for now.  
They arrived at school and said their goodbyes as they each went off towards their seperate classrooms.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Kitty sat in her third class of the day, AP Calculus, and tried desperately to pay attention. It seemed, however, that her mind only wanted to focus on the event that had taken place earlier that morning. She was seriously freaked out by this new problem with her powers. At the moment she had been so sure that she would never be solid again. And for some reason she was afraid to admit this fear to her best friend.  
She found herself, throughout the day, touching or running her hands along everything. Picking up, or grabbing something, just to make sure she could. For now, she was content to pick up her pen, lay it on the desk and then pick it back up.  
"Katherine." Her teacher's voice broke her concentration.  
She looked up and realized that the bell had rung and she was the only one in the room that wasn't hurriedly packing her bag and rushing off to lunch.  
Embarrassed, she quickly stood up and began tossing her things into her bag as her teacher came over to her desk.  
"Katherine, is everything all right? You seemed very distant today." He asked her in a concerned voice.  
"Oh. I'm sorry Mr. Clarke, I've had a killer headache all day." She lied.  
"Well, take it easy tonight and in case you didn't notice, there's a homework assignment on the board. I'll see you tomorrow Katherine." He pointed to the assignment, neatly written in chalk.  
Kitty blushed a little in embarrassment when he pointed it out, as she hadn't noticed it earlier. She murmured a "thanks" as he walked out of the classroom.  
Kitty sighed in frustration as she opened her bag and reached in to pull out her assignment notebook. Her fingers instead, passed right through the object. She gasped and retreated her arm which phased back through the entire bag.  
"No, not again." She said out loud to herself. She stood still closing her eyes for a moment. Then, with a look of defiance, she reached for her bag again and not only did she keep herself from passing through it, but knocked it off the desk with the force of her hand.  
"This is like, not my day." She said angrily to herself as she quickly wrote down the assignment and walked out the door and down the hall. When she reached her locker she found Kurt sitting on the linoleum floor leaning back against the neighboring locker's door.  
"Hi." She said as she walked up beside him and began working her locker combination.  
"Oh, hi Katzchen." Kurt looked up from his sitting position, leaning the top of his head against the cold metal door.  
"Zhe others vent on ahead to lunch, but I vanted to wait for you and make sure everything vas still okay." He finished, smiling.  
"I'm fine. I was just getting a homework assignment. That's all." She said shutting her locker door, hoping she sounded convincing.  
"I like your shirt, grey's a good color for you." She said, switching the subject from herself.  
Kurt stood up and looked down at the buttoned up loose shirt he had on.  
"Uh, thanks. Amanda gave it to me." He said.  
"She has good taste, why don't you ever wear it?" She asked as they began their walk into the cafeteria.  
"It's too nice to vear long-sleeves under it, and I vorry about people bumping into mein bare arms." He said shrugging.  
"Oh." Said Kitty softly, feeling bad for hitting two nerves. Real great Pryde. She thought to herself, bring up his ex and his self- consciousness about his fur.  
They walked the rest of the way in silence, before entering the loud cafeteria. The pair were a few of the last to go through the line, so the selections were slim. Kitty opted for the last slice of cheese pizza, a bowl of fruit and a Diet Coke while Kurt helped himself to the last three burgers, fries and a Mountain Dew. They made their way through the center of the large lunch room, towards the back where "the freaks from Xavier's school" usually sat.  
Kitty noticed glares from many of the students as she and Kurt walked past their tables. She hated that an entire year after being revealed as mutants had passed, but the students still treated them like scum just for being different.  
In small classrooms it seemed to be better, just as long as they didn't use their powers. Kitty even had a few non-mutant friends in a couple of her AP classes. But in large groups people act out of stupidity and peer pressure. Thus making lunch the worst time of the day. Evan had said that he just figured it made them nervous to see all of them together at once, but Kitty knew that it was just simple prejudice and hatred.  
As they walked past, Kitty looked down and realized that she had began phasing again and lost hold of her Diet Coke. The bottle fell through her hands and hit the floor with a loud thump. Students sitting at the nearby tables turned to see what the noise was and began to giggle when they realized that it was one of the mutants. Kitty tried to ignore them, but before she even had a chance to pick up the drink, her plate phased through her other hand and the food fell to the floor.  
This brought even more laughter from neighboring tables who never missed a chance to pick on someone while they're down. Kitty knelt down to pick up her mess, but couldn't grab hold as her hand kept phasing through the objects. Kurt quickly crouched beside her and started gathering items.  
"Kurt, I've got it!" She said a little too loudly out of anger, frustration and denial.  
"No you don't Katzchen. Now calm down before..." He didn't even have to finish his sentence. He heard her gasp as she realized that she was sinking into the floor.  
"Hey that mutant girl is using her powers!" A student yelled out from the crowd. This caused the rest of the room to turn their focus to the two on the floor. Even students walking around stopped in their tracks to see what was happening.  
"Keety, calm down, come on." Kurt said softly, trying to help.  
Kitty covered her face with her hands out of humiliation. "Why is this happening to me?" She mumbled through her fingers as tears trickled down.  
"Keety, just concentrate and take my hand. You did it before, come on..." Kurt extended his hand to her, hoping that she would be able to concentrate enough to grab it. Instead it seemed to only irritate the young girl.  
"I can't Kurt!" She swiped at him out of anger and frustration, if she had been solid she would have hit him pretty hard, but instead she just passed through his outreached hand.  
Her shouts and the fact that she was sitting, literally, in the floor from her waist down had kept all the attention on her, but the flickering of Kurt's holowatch had momentarily shifted the attention to him.  
"Oh no." Kitty said gasping, a hand covering her mouth. She had phased through Kurt's watch and had caused it to short out. Kurt, still crouching beside her, hadn't even noticed what had happened until he saw her reaction and looked down at his blue, fuzzy arm.  
He slowly stood up and heard a few girls gasp. The people who were standing around watching actually took a few steps back. For just a second or two the entire room fell into silence as all of the school witnessed Kurt's true appearance for the first time.  
  
End chapter 5: A Monday to Remember  
  
Author's Notes: I know, I know, but you've got to have a cliff hanger! What else would keep you all coming back for more? :o)  
  
The song is: The Beatles - Drive My Car, I think it's off the 'Rubber Souls' album, but I don't remember they're all on my iPod now. ;o)  
  
Hey, while you guys are reviewing, (cause you know you want to) will you let me know what your favorite part is so far? Please. :o) That way, I can get a taste of what you all are enjoying the most and keep it in mind as I work on future chapters. Thanks so much! 


	6. Poor Guy

Chapter 6 - 'Poor Guy'  
  
The momentary silence was broken when a kid from the back shouted.  
"Hey that's the Bayville Demon! That mutant that's been seen with the X-men!"  
This was followed by more shouts from the crowd.  
"That German kid turned into him!"  
"That thing is Kurt Wagner!"  
"He has a tail!"  
Kurt just stood there, his yellow eyes frantically looking around the room. He knew he should get out of there, run away or teleport, but he couldn't do it, he was frozen in fear. Memories came flooding back into his mind. Memories of villagers who had mistaken him for a demon, trying to burn him at the stake when he was just a child.  
The crowds shouting had turned to whispered gossip. Kurt's overly -sensitive hearing was still picking up most of it. Jean had once tried to explain to him what it was like to be a telepath, to hear things that you weren't meant to hear people say, Kurt imagined that this must be close to what it was like.  
"I have class with that guy."  
"Has he always been that way?"  
"Is that his mutation?"  
"I think he has fur."  
"I told you there was something weird about him."  
"Why is he just standing there?"  
The last statement caught Kurt's attention. He *was* just standing there, the center of the crowd, unable to move. A hand grabbed a hold of his. It was Kitty. Somewhere in the back of his mind he realized that she had gained control of her power and he was relieved by this, although unable to express it.  
"Kurt, come on, let's go." She spoke softly and squeezed his hand. She began to walk him out as Rogue, Evan, Bobby and Ray pushed their way from the back providing a path through the crowd. Rogue took her foster- brother's other arm as she and Kitty led him quietly out of the building.  
"Poor guy." Kurt heard a young student mutter under her breath. He caught her eyes as he walked past, she smiled faintly.  
  
The six students made their way out to Ray's car. Rogue crawled into the back seat and Kitty directed an almost lifeless Kurt in behind her. The group was in such a frantic rush that they didn't even notice Kitty sneak away on her own.  
As they drove home Kurt was just staring straight ahead, his silence making the other passengers nervous. Rogue put her arm around her brother and pulled him in to rest his head on her covered shoulder.  
"It's gonnah be okay." She said softly, but received no response from the quiet boy.  
Rogue wasn't sure how many hours had passed since they had returned to the mansion. She had been immediately replaced by Ororo who had wrapped an arm around her brother and led him away upon arrival.  
"Come child, let us go and talk with the Professor." Her voice had been soft and soothing.  
After they left the room, the remaining students didn't know what to do with themselves. They wanted to help, but there really wasn't anything for them to do. So they all found a comfortable spot in the living room and silently waited.  
Soon the other students began to arrive home and Amara and Roberto came running in.  
"Hey what happened today?" Asked Amara as she entered the living room and found all her missing classmates.  
"Yeah... there's talk of Kurt "turning into a blue demon" all over school." Roberto added, somewhat out of breath from his rush to get home.  
"We hurried home during the next passing period once we realized that you were all gone. So what happened?" Amara and Roberto stood holding their book bags waiting for an answer.  
"Kurt's watch fritzed out on him." Ray stated simply.  
"Yeah, in the middle of the lunchroom, just about everyone saw him." Added Bobby.  
"But how?" Amara's face was full of sadness.  
"We don't know, Kitty was with him and we dahn't know where she is." Rogue stated quietly from the back.  
"I zhink she's avoiding me, but if you see her vill you let me know." Kurt's voice caused all the students to turn towards him and the Professor, no one had even heard them enter the room.  
"Kurt are you awlright?" Rogue stood up, her voice full of concern.  
"Ja. I vill be." He said softly.  
"What's gonna happen now? Will you be able to go back to school?" Bobby asked, unaware that it wasn't the best time to be asking.  
"Shut up, Bobby." Rogue muttered, elbowing him.  
"No, it's alright." The Professor spoke up. "Kurt and I have decided that we will use this week as a trial run and he will go back to school tomorrow, with a new watch."  
Evan noticed the new "watch" on his friend's wrist. He realized that he didn't actually know what had happened to the first one.  
"How do we know it won't break like the first one?" Bobby spoke up.  
"It didn't break." Kurt stated softly, he paused before continuing, the crowd anxiously awaiting to find out. "Keety phased through it."  
  
The whole room went silent, shocked by the news of what had happened.  
"But not on purpose right?" Bobby added, receiving another glare from Rogue.  
"Nein. Of course not. But please, if you see her, I need to talk vith her." Everyone nodded in response to his request. "Now if you don't mind, I vould like to be alone for avhile." With that the young boy was replaced by a cloud of sulfur smoke.  
"Kurt is going to need all of you to stand by his side this week." Said the Professor. "Hopefully it shouldn't take long for the school to get used to this new "discovery". Now if you will pardon me, I need to go make a call to the principal to let him know of our arrangements." With that the older man turned and wheeled away.  
"Poor guy." said Amara softly.  
  
* * * * * *  
With a soft "bamf" Kurt found himself, not in his room as he had intended, but in a small, dark unfamiliar space. By the look of the dust covered boxes, he presumed he was in the attic.  
A small "sniff" from a back corner caught his attention and he wandered past some more boxes towards the sound. He moved around a large wardrobe and spotted the source. It was Kitty, sitting on the floor, knees against her chest, her eyes red with tears.  
"Vhy are you up here?" He asked meaning to be casual, but even he could hear the hint of anger in his voice. He wasn't actually mad at her for "outing" his appearance to the school. He was just upset about the whole situation.  
She jumped a little when he spoke, startled by his entrance.  
"Sorry, I didn't mean to sneak up on you." He said softly. She just looked up at him, her eyes full of tears. Instantly, that little bit of anger he had melted away. He sat down beside her and let out a soft sigh.  
"Are you alright?" She asked quietly, her voice sounded a little congested from her crying.  
"I've been better" He answered. "But ja, I'm fine."  
A few tears ran down her cheeks and she hugged her knees tightly to her chest.  
"Oh god, Kurt. What happened. What you had to go through, that was all my fault." She began to cry as she continued, taking in a sharp breath. "You must be so angry with me. And all I can do, is tell you how sorry I am." She wiped away her tears and stared at the floor.  
Kurt paused for a moment before speaking up.  
"Keety, I vasn't angry at you for vhat happened. That vas an accident. I vas hurt and a little upset that you just took off."  
Kitty looked over at him as he calmly continued.  
"All I vanted on the vay home vas to curl up in your arms and have you tell me it vould all be fine. I appreciated vhat the others did for me, but I vanted you..." He paused before adding, "my best friend." As he finished, his voice trailed off and he started to study the floor, to avoid eye contact.  
"Kurt, I thought, like, you would never want to see me again. I thought I had just *lost* my best friend. I mean what's gonna happen to you now?" She was really worried about this.  
"I'm going to go to school tomorrow, vith my new vatch." He held up his wrist. "And you, *still* as my best friend, vill help me get through zhe day and the next one and the one after that... AND help me remember that it is all worth it, because we're about to graduate."  
"I mean, that's the ideal situation." He looked over at her with his best puppy dog eyes.  
"Of course I will." She said catching his gaze. "I am really sorry though. You almost made it to the end without anyone finding out."  
"Ack! Forget about it Keety. It is something I should have done a long time ago. I should have been standing beside you guys vhen you vere all revealed as mutants. I realized today, how abandoned you must have felt and I'm truly sorry for that. The way I see it, ve're even." His voice was light hearted and he smiled at Kitty and put his arm around her to pull her into a hug. She smiled back as she gratefully entered the embrace. She could fell her mood getting better as held her. She could definitely get used to this new found closeness between them.  
The hug reluctantly ended and both parties sat back against the wall, a hint of awkwardness between them.  
"So, vhat is this place? Vhere are we?' Kurt asked, glancing around the large cluttered space.  
"What do you mean?" She looked at him quizzically. "We're in the attic over the West side of the mansion."  
He scratched the back of his head, trying to act casual. "Vell, I didn't really know vhere you vere... I sorta ported here by mistake."  
"I thought that you had to know where you were going in order to teleport." She asked a little confused.  
"Ja. You've got me. I've never done zhis before." He shrugged. "Hey speaking of using my powers, ve sorta missed lunch in all the commotion earlier, and all this teleporting has me starving!" He pretended to sniff at the air as he rubbed his stomach. "Besides, I think that I can smell dinner."  
Kitty just shook her head, holding back a laugh. "You must be feeling better if you're thinking with your stomach."  
She took his hand in hers. "Come on, the kitchen's right below us."  
And the two phased down through the floor.  
The crowd at the dinner table was full of hushed conversation about the events of the day. They abruptly stopped as the two topics of such conversation entered the room, through the ceiling.  
Jamie, still one of the youngest of the students, seemed to miss that everyone had stopped talking and were all glaring at him to shut his mouth.  
"I'm just saying, if I were him. I'd be pissed at Kitty!" He shared to no one in particular, not noticing the two forms landing behind him.  
"Well, I'm not pissed." Kurt stated rather loudly just behind Jamie, causing him to jump. "At least not at Kitty anyhow." He added giving Jamie a mischievous glare, baring his fangs a little as he and Kitty joined the laughing group at the table.  
"Glad to have you back man." Said Evan as he passed the plate of ribs over to his friend.  
"Danke, and thanks everyone... for helping me out today." He added while most of the eyes were still on him.  
"Hey of course, and we'll all be there tomorrow too." Added Ray from the other end of the table.  
"Danke. Now, if you would so kindly send all food in this direction."  
  
End Chapter 6  
  
Author's notes: Okay, Okay I know this chapter sucked big time. And I realize that it has been forever and a day since I last updated. That's because I was having much difficulty making this chapter not suck. And I apparently gave up on trying, because, well, it does. Anyways, I'm sorry. I realize that something exciting better happen soon before you all start killing yourselves out of boredom from reading this fic. (think: Airplane! the Movie) So, I hope the next one will be better.  
As always, I much appreciate comments, criticism, suggestions and just general reviews. So if you will, please press that pretty blue button on the bottom left corner there. Yes....you want to click on the button.... click! 


	7. This Week Just Keeps Getting Better

CHAPTER 7- 'This Week Just Keeps Getting Better'

Kurt hung upside down from the light fixture in his dark bedroom, trying to study for his Chemistry test, but with little success. The problem did not lay in the lack of sufficient lighting, for Kurt could see quite well in the dark. Perhaps it was the early hour of 4 am, that was making his concentration seem impossible. Or the fact that today would be his first day of high school where everyone would know his secret.

While this thought brought much distress to the young mutant's mind, it also brought with it a hint of relief. He was definitely worried about whether or not he would be accepted, pointed at or ridiculed, or even the possibility of being feared. It was that sense of knowing that he no longer needed to hide that lifted his spirits, if only a little. The school now knew his secret, that was all there was to it.

Kurt brought his attention back to his textbook and sighed in defeat as he dropped it, purposely aiming for it to land on the bed below him.

"Figures I would have a test on probably the most stressful day of my high school life." He muttered quietly to himself as he released his grip on the light and gracefully flipped in midair to land softly on the floor.

He began to move about the room, gathering his school items together. Enjoying the rare silence that surrounded the large school at this early hour of the day. Finally, he came to a decision that if he was not going to be able to get back to sleep or get any studying done, he might as well get showered before the start of the "school morning rush hour" to the community bathrooms.

He stripped down to his boxers, clumsily leaving his t-shirt and pajama pants in a pile on the floor. Normally, he was uncomfortable wandering through the school so uncovered, but he knew he didn't have to worry about running into any other students for at least another hour or two.

He paused for a moment, having caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror. His yellow eyes seemed to glow in the darkness, his spaded tail swinging from side to side. "How can they not see me as a monster?" He quietly asked himself.

Of course, last night his peers had assured him over and over that the students of Bayville High would "get over it". They would learn to see past the unusual looks and realize that he was just another average guy. "Sure. An average mutant guy." He had responded.

The truth of the matter was, he was just going to have to see. He was sure that most, probably wouldn't care after a day or two, finding something new to gossip about. But, there was always those few: the ones that took over the role of Duncan Matthews after he had graduated. Playing the parts of the resident bullies and all-around mutant haters. Those people would determine whether or not his last few weeks of school were a living hell.

"Mein Gott. I hope this day goes well." He said a silent prayer to himself and ported to the men's bathroom.

Kurt reappeared expecting to now see his demon-like reflection in the bathroom mirror, but instead found himself staring at a tile wall, a pretty peach colored tile wall. Quickly his brain registered that he was in a shower stall. An occupied shower stall and judging by the tile color, it wasn't the men's room. Hot water splashed past his feet and he quickly whipped around to come face to face with a very surprised Katherine Pryde.

Both occupants of said stall let out a gasp as they jumped back a step. Kitty was now behind the flow of water causing Kurt to get fairly wet.

"Keety!" Kurt's face flushed and he immediately shifted his eyes from the very naked young woman in front of him to a rather interesting spot on the ceiling. Not because he didn't want to look. Oh, how he wanted to look, to admire and enjoy the view. But, his chilvary, guilt and a little shyness caused his averted reaction. Not to mention that little voice in the back of his mind that constantly reminded him "we're just friends".

"Kurt!" Kitty's yelp kept his mind from wandering too far into his imagination of what he must be missing. "What do you think you're doing?!" Kitty screeched in confusion and shock, trying her best to cover herself with her arms.

"Keety, I didn't mean to... I don't know how..." Kurt was murmuring, somewhat incoherently, trying desperately to understand, himself, how he had gotten there.

"Kurt?!" His name rolled off her tongue in such a way that it was very clear from that one word, that she did not want him to be there anymore.  
Continuing to concentrate his gaze on the ceiling he managed to tumble his way out of the stall, tripping over the edge and landing on the soft bath mat. He sat there for a second, still a little disoriented. For a minute, all that could be heard was the stream of the shower splashing against the tiles.

Kitty needed that moment to catch her breath. She stood, still clumsily covering her front with her draped arms as the hot water pooled around her feet. "What on earth just happened?" She wondered to herself.

"Kurt. What in the hell was that?! So, NOT funny!" She spoke loudly from behind the curtain, so as to be heard over the water. Her voice did not sound pleased and Kurt very much noticed this.

Kurt stood up, "I'm sorry. Seriously, I didn't mean to" He started to quickly make his way for the door, after mentally deciding to avoid 'porting for the moment. "Um, bye!"

As he exited the room, Kitty phased just her head through the curtain to watch the half-naked, dripping wet figure of her best friend scatter away. A blush crept into her cheeks as she realized she was enjoying the view. "To think, just the other day he was still uncomfortable being too near me." She thought to herself, a smile crossing her face.

As soon as Kurt was in the hall, he forced the door shut and leaned his back against it, closing his eyes as he sighed. "Oh yeah, this day's gonna be great." He muttered sarcastically under his breath.

As Kitty returned to finishing her shower, she was still a little angry from the intrusion. However, he had seemed sincere in his apology. And she believed him that it had been an accident, even Kurt knew better than to pull off a stunt like that. So, by the time she was dried off and applying her make-up, she had decided that she should go make amends with him. She knew that this day was going to be rough for him and the last thing he needed was for them to be in a tiff.

Not wanting to get dressed for school at such an early hour, Kitty quietly dug through her dresser drawers in the dark room as Rogue continued to sleep. She finally found a pair of pajama bottoms and a white tank top. She quickly combed out her wet hair after dressing, put on her pink fuzzy slippers and set off to find her blue friend.

The friend in question was in his room, having just returned from his own shower. He sat, towel wrapped around his waist, concentrating on brushing through the wet fur down his arms and chest. It wasn't really something he had time to do every morning, but this particular day he had plenty of time to kill, especially since he was in no hurry to run into Kitty downstairs.

"What is happening?" He thought to himself. "First Kitty and her phasing and now my teleporting."

His thoughts were distracted by a soft rapping on his door. He looked up, but didn't hear it again. He returned to his grooming as Kitty's head phased through the door.

"Oh, whoops. Sorry, I didn't actually think you were in here." She said, her eyebrows raised, and he was sure that if he could see her arms on the other side of the door, they would be shrugging.

"Can I come in?" She added in a friendly tone.

"Of course." He replied softly, expecting her to still be angry.

She phased through the rest of the door and walked over to him, stopping and quietly standing there, not really sure where to start.

Kurt looked down out of nervousness, but spoke up first. "Are you still angry? Because, I really am sorry."

She caught his eye, lifting a curious eyebrow. "It really was an accident right?" Her tone was playful.

"Of course! I vould never, on purpose!" Kurt held up his hands in a "don't shoot me" defensive pose.

"All right then," A smile spread across her delicate features. "It's forgotten." She paused for a moment before adding, "Besides, your expression as you fumbled your way out of the shower: Priceless!"

"Hey, I vas just as surprised as you vere!" He added, a little defensively, but couldn't help laughing along with her.

"You didn't really see anything did you?" She asked, still smiling.

"No! Of course not."

She accepted his answer, even though she could tell he was blushing.

"Of course, I did get a pretty decent view of you." She slipped in, his eyes widened as he quickly turned to her.

"Vas do you mean?" He sounded a little concerned.

"I don't think I had ever realized how built you are."

Kurt could feel his cheeks growing hotter.

"But you wet down that fur a little... "

Kitty could swear she could actually see his face turning a brilliant purple.

"...and you are ripped!"

It was true, with all the acrobatics Kurt practiced, on top of all the Danger Room sessions, and you add in his extremely high metabolism, the young mutant was all muscle. It was just hard to see under all that fur.

This had been a new revelation for Kitty that morning, but right now she was taking advantage of the opportunity to inflict embarrassment upon her friend.

"Ja vell... all those training room sessions." It was the only thing he could think of to say.

"Oh Kurt, I'm just giving you a hard time. I figured I needed to even the score on who was more embarrassed this morning." She was giggling now.

"Oh." He started to laugh a little along with her.

"I did mean it though." She added.

They both continued to giggle until it lulled away into a somewhat uncomfortable silence. Kitty was sitting on the edge of Kurt's bed as he still sat in his chair, brush in hand.

"So," Kitty spoke up to break the silence. "do you have to brush all that every day?" She asked curiously, pointing at the small object he was holding.

"Um, I try to." He answered, a little bit uncomfortable, having never shared with anyone his special grooming needs until now.

"Dang. That must take awhile. I really have to stop complaining about having to dry and straighten my hair every morning." She casually ran a hand through her damp locks.

Kurt was a little perplexed by her ability to just pass by the news that he brushes himself head to toe, everyday, as though it were as normal as brushing his teeth.

"Don't you think it's a bit veird?" He had to ask.

"Not really, do you have any idea what all it takes for Rogue to get ready in the morning!" She was determined to keep him in a good mood today, and she was not going to let him dwell on all his differences.

Kurt smiled, but he was thinking back to what Kitty had said earlier. "So, you straighten your hair? Vhy do you do that?"

"I dunno, I guess I like it better when it's not curly, it's easier to manage. Of course it does take like three times as long to get ready."

"I can imagine." He replied, starting to feel a whole lot more comfortable in his current situation. Kitty had such a great way of doing that. "Eet's not just mein insomnia that gets me up so early, I just vant to be beautiful!" He added, smiling, pretending to flick his hair away from his face in a pompous manner.

It did Kitty's heart good to see her friend smiling again, and she laughed along with him.

"All right then gorgeous, hand me that other brush."

Kurt reluctantly handed her the other round, silver paddle brush. A little curious as to why she wanted it.

Without saying a word, she stepped around behind him and began running the soft bristles down the short velvet like hair covering his back.  
Now this was something completely different that he had never let anyone do to him before. Hell, just the other day he had been telling Kitty how he wasn't used to people touching him. And now his best friend, the girl he had had a crush on since they'd first met, was brushing his fur while he sat wrapped in only a towel. (A/N follow the link to see an illustration of this scene: img./albums/v664/Queequegg17/KittyKurt.jpg)

He had definitely noticed how nice her caress felt as she moved in a soft rhythm down his spine. He fought hard to hold back a purr that so desperately wanted to escape his lips.

Kitty had noticed that his breathing had slowed down considerably and he seemed much less jumpy as she continued her work. She watched his tail lazily swing from side to side, it too seemed fairly content in her actions.

"So, I take it your feeling a bit more comfortable around me?" She couldn't help, but point out to him.

"MmmHmm" He audibly agreed without using any words. "If I had known that all I had to do vas 'port into your shower to get treatment like this, I vould have done it long ago."

He flinched even before Kitty had a chance to smack his arm. "And I know how to hurt you too, fuzzball." She said in a threatening manner, grabbing a chunk of his fur in her hands, pretending as though she was going to pull.

"Okay, okay, geez." They were both laughing now.

"So, vhy vere you up so early mein Katzchen?" Kurt decided he better change the subject, to prevent her from stopping what she was doing. He also went back to finishing the brushing of his arms and chest.

"I couldn't sleep, I guess I'm a little nervous for you too."

"Oh." Kurt answered, a little shocked and a little touched that she was so worried about him. "Thanks."

Just then, there was a loud thump outside Kurt's door followed by laughing and a very angry sounding Rogue shouting. "Drake! I swear, ah'm gonnah stab ya with one of yer own icicles!"

"Sounds like it must be time to get up." They both laughed at Kitty's statement.

"Well, I better go finish getting ready..." She handed the brush back to Kurt. "See you at breakfast?" She started to phase her way through his door.

"Ja. I vill see you down there."

Kurt's tail which had been swinging, quite contented with the idea of him being brushed all day, sadly fell limp as his Katzchen left the room.

End Chapter 7 - "This Day Just Keeps Getting Better" Author's Notes: Well, I figured we needed a little bit of light heartedness, (and a bit more Kurtty fluff) to keep this puppy going. Let me know what you thought of this chapter, hopefully it was WAY better than the last one. Again, I apologize for that. Review please! I don't normally do shout-outs, but I just wanted to personally thank all who reviewed my last chapter. Thanks for sticking around!

Min-kat - I'm glad you liked the school's reaction to Kurt's true self. It was very much intentional. It seemed that every fic I had read on the subject was, just as you said, an all out panic and "kill the beast!" type reaction, but I wanted to try something a little different. :o)

Quill of Molliemon - Hmmm... it is odd isn't it? (Don't worry it's not a mistake on my part) There's more to it, glad you picked up on it! :o) Thanks for always reviewing!

Akai Kah'ghe - Aw shucks, blushes thanks! I will keep writing as long as y'all seem to enjoy it!

Raskolion Phoenix - Thanks, I know this one was not as good as the others, but I decided that I just had to get past it (suck it up and post what I had) or this story would have never been updated! Thanks.  
Did you mean different from MY version of 'Kurt's watch fritzing at school' fics or from other 'everyone panics' fics? Or just completely different all together? Just curious.

Darkness1 - Well thanks, I do hope you enjoyed the next few chaps as well.

jamesasker - I didn't actually think you were still reading. Thanks for the review and thanks for always being so great! You're such an awesome friend!

SouthernSass - Well, I gave you your update, but I think that next time I will hold out for the secret chocolate stash!

Aqueous - Umm... just don't kill ME, okay?

And to all those who have reviewed now or in the past: thanks so much! Your words are encouraging, you're suggestions helpful, and it's such a great feeling to know that at least SOMEONE is reading (and apparently enjoying) it!


	8. Feeling Freakish

Chapter 8 - "Feeling Freakish"  
Kurt sat at the mostly empty dining room table eating a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon. He glanced over at Logan who sat at the opposite end drinking his coffee as he silently read the morning's newspaper.  
Taking another bite of eggs, Kurt heard steps outside the room and looked up to see who was about to join them. The door did not, in fact, open as he had expected; for it was the Shadowcat who simply walked through it. Catching sight of his friend, Kurt actually choked a little on his mouthful.  
"Hi Keety." He managed to get out between coughs. "You look... vonderbar!"  
To this exclamation, Logan had curiously peeked out from behind his paper just long enough to see what it was all about. The "half-pint" as he liked to call her had apparently taken on a new look.  
As Katherine Pryde walked across the room to a seat next to her friend, Kurt was taking the opportunity to get a new look at her.  
Her chestnut hair was down from it's signature ponytail, and as she had mentioned earlier that morning, it was indeed very curly. The spiraling brunette locks framed her face as they fell just past her shoulders. Kurt was unconsciously making a mental note about his new found appreciation of curly hair.  
"Thanks." She smiled, blushing a little. "I figured, you had a new look today, so I would too."  
Kurt started laughing.  
"Ja. You've gone curly and I've gone blue and furry." He continued to laugh, "Eet's almost the same thing." He held up two of his blue fingers just barely an inch apart to visualize the small difference.  
Kitty stuck out her tongue at him.  
"Okay, or maybe I just waited too long to do anything with MY hair because I was busy helping you with YOURS after you "popped" in and interrupted my shower this morning."  
There was a distinct, coughing while choking on coffee sound that came from the other end of the table. Kitty hadn't even noticed Mr. Logan in the room and her eyes went wide in fear to his reaction of what she had just said. The man who had taken it upon himself to be her over protective guardian set down his coffee and stood up. He looked as if he wanted to scream something, but couldn't find the words. He chose instead to shake his head, pick up his paper and leave the room; muttering something to the effect of "Kids..." to himself.  
As soon as he had left the room, Kitty lost it.  
"Oh my god, like, I think that was even more embarrassing then you seeing me naked." Kitty looked as if she were about to die.  
"I told you zhat I didn't even see anything." Kurt added, trying hard to hold back his laughter. "Besides, even if I had, you vouldn't have anything to be embarrassed about." he added, a bit more coyly than his usual flirtations.  
Kitty turned to face him and looked him in the eye, trying to read through his words. He opted to change the topic a bit before he had to tread into territory he was not ready to enter.  
"You better hope Logan thought you vere being funny or 'yours truly' will most certainly be a pile of blue fuzzy pieces when he gets a hold of me."  
"Let's hope." Kitty answered, still a little flustered from Kurt's earlier comment.  
But before she had a chance to question him about it, the room had filled with hungry students all hurriedly eating before rushing off to school. Everyone had highly approved Kitty's new look, making her feel quite embarrassed by the end of the meal. She half remembered Bobby's statement, which consisted of the words: "damn" and "hot," making her cheeks flush. However, she also noted the warm feeling she felt when she noticed Kurt nodding in agreement to Bobby's wink in his direction.  
All too soon, the students found that it was time to start heading to school. The morning had seemed to rush by so quickly, even for Kurt who had been up for hours.  
The five seniors had made plans to carpool together that morning, so that Kurt could be among friends as he entered the school. They all arrived a bit earlier than usual, all a little nervous and prepared to stand up for their friend.  
"Vell..." Said Kurt, making one last check that his holowatch was on and working well. "...here goes nothing."  
The group made their way into the school, the halls were just beginning to get crowded as more students arrived all hurrying along to get to their lockers before class. It seemed that they were all distracted, however, by the group of mutants walking past them, particularly the small German one in the back.  
Until the last couple of days, Kurt had never really noticed just how many kids went to Bayville High, but now, with every pair of eyes on him, it felt like thousands. Even though he had just double checked that he was well hidden behind his hologram, he still felt as if their scowling eyes could see right through it. The sensation was making him feel very xenophobic.  
"Just ignore them." Kitty whispered to him, smiling. She reached out and squeezed his hand. This gesture, however small, had instantly helped him relax and he smiled in appreciation back at her.  
As they rounded the corner to Kurt's locker bay, Rogue let out a low moan.  
"Those bastards." She added.  
Spray painted in red across Kurt's locker were the words, "GO BACK TO HELL, DEMON FREAK!"  
Kurt's heart sank at the sight of these words. The little bit of hope he had for the day to go well was gone in seconds.  
"Hey...K-man..." Evan looked apologetically at Kurt, obviously not knowing what to say.  
"At least zey are not actually trying to send me zhere." Kurt said as he shrugged his shoulders and opened his locker to stash some of his books.  
The five minute warning bell wailed through the busy halls. Evan turned to Kurt.  
"Hey man, you sure you'll be all right?"  
"Ja. See you next period."  
"Awlright, we'll meet you here fer lunch, kay?" Rogue said, looking very protective towards her brother.  
"Eet's fine, zanks you guys. Now go to class, before you're late." He waved to Rogue and Evan as they took off towards their classrooms at the other end of the large building.  
"You ready man?" Ray asked, the two of them had their first class together.  
"I'll be right there." Kurt responded, knowing that Ray wanted a few last minutes to look over his notes before the test.  
"Hey." Kitty said, causing Kurt to turn around and look at her. "Don't give up yet. It'll get better, it just takes us thickheaded ones a bit longer to realize how great you are." She pointed to herself as said this and Kurt knew that not only was she talking about the school, but herself. A genuine smile spread across his features and Kitty pulled him into a hug. "Good luck on your test."  
"Zanks, Keety." He hugged her back tightly.  
"See you in a little bit." She smiled as he walked away towards his class.  
Upon entering his small classroom, all twenty-nine pairs of eyes turned to him. The room went so silent that Kurt imagined that had it been a cartoon, you would have heard crickets chirping in the background. The start of class bell rang, breaking the awkward silence as Kurt sat in the empty desk next to Ray.  
"So..." Began his Chemistry teacher, Mr. Garner, "I will assume that since none of you are frantically trying to memorize a few last minute facts... that you are indeed ready for the test."  
The majority of the students were so preoccupied by keeping an eye on the "demon" in their classroom, that they had temporarily forgotten about the exam. Their was much commotion and shouts of protest after Mr. Garner had brought it up.  
"But sir, you can't really expect us to be able to concentrate when there's that... that mutant FREAK in our room!" One of the boys in the front of the classroom shouted.  
"Mr. Davis, there is ONE thing that I will not tolerate in my classroom, and that's a prejudice towards any other person." Kurt had never heard his teacher talk in this tone of voice before, it came across as a low roar, and he was serious about what he had to say. "I should hope that you have learned in your history classes, that America is a country of tolerance, where "all men are created equal." Or are you failing that class as well?" He had slipped in the last comment a bit quieter than the rest and it gained quite a few chuckles from the other students.  
The student who had started it all, Alan Davis, seemed to have claimed defeat. He crossed his arms over his chest and slumped back in his chair, with a rather unhappy look on his face.  
"Now does anyone else have a problem with sharing their classroom with a mutant?" The teacher paused for a beat. "Because if you do, I suggest you find a different school." This again led to a few more chuckles around the room, even Kurt and Ray managed to crack a smile. Kurt swore that he saw his teacher wink in his direction.  
"Now, if you will please clear off your tables of everything except a pencil, I'm going to pass out the test."  
After about twenty minutes or so Kurt sat at his table, feeling pretty confident about his test. This was quite an impressive feat, considering he doubted that he had gotten more than hour of studying done.  
The test had been short and Mr. Garner had everyone getting in their assigned pairs to do a quick experiment before the end of class. For the last month Kurt had been paired up with a girl named Janie, the two had become casual friends over the course of the class and she was one of the few that continued to talk to him after the Xavier's Institute had been outed as a school for mutants. She made her way over to their table in the back to join him.  
"I can vork by myself if you prefer." Kurt said quietly to her.  
"It's okay." She said smiling as she sat down.  
Kurt smiled back and they began their project.  
It didn't really take that long and Kurt was helping Janie finish filling out the worksheet where they charted their results. They had fallen silent as he scribbled in the last few numbers, when Janie spoke up.  
"Does your mutant power make you blue like that?" She spoke quietly so that no one else could hear. Kurt judged by her expression that she was honestly, just curious.  
"Mein mother vas a mutant as vell, so unlike many first generation mutants, I vas born vith physical mutations." That was the simplest way he could think to explain it.  
"If you were born that way, how do you hide it?"  
Kurt looked silently at the girl, not really sure if he should talk about it.  
"I'm sorry, it's not my place..." she said, feeling bad for nagging him.  
"No, eet's fine. I vear a hologram. It sort of works like a full-body mask. Yesterday, in the cafeteria, it broke."  
Kurt watched her face as she took in this information. It seemed to be making a lot of sense to her.  
'That's why you won't ever touch anyone, you can hide how you look, but if someone ever shook your hand, they'd notice."  
"Zhat I only have two fingers." Kurt added as he held out his hand palm up, fingers and thumb spread wide, forever looking as if he was making some sort of Star Trek reference.  
She giggled a little bit and then reached out and placed her hand on his. Kurt was not expecting this and flinched a little as her skin touched his palm. He averted his eyes as he waited for a scream, but it didn't come. Looking back at her, she squeezed his palm and said quietly.  
"You were very brave to come back to school today." As soon as she said it, her hand slipped out of his and she quickly gathered her books off the table. "See you tomorrow Kurt." She walked away just as the bell rang, signaling the end of class.  
As Kurt gathered his own books, Ray walked over to him.  
"I guess chicks really do dig the fuzzy dude." He said, making Kurt blush.  
  
The morning passing period was short, which on most days seemed like more of an annoyance. But today, Kurt was greatful for anything that made the day seem to go by faster. Rogue came up beside he and Ray speeding up to their pace. Ray waved a casual goodbye as he split off down another hallway to his classroom leaving Rogue and Kurt to continue on to their own.  
"So how'd yer first class go?" Asked Rogue a little cautiously.  
"Actually, not too bad. I can only hope the rest vill go as vell."  
The bell rang and soon the pair found themselves in their next class which proved to go a little less smoothly than his first. After only about ten minutes Kurt found himself in the middle of quite the argument with his professor about his distraction of the class.  
"I am going to have to ask you to leave if you continue to disrupt my class Mr. Wagner." His math teacher, Mr. Stratford, stated forcefully.  
"Vas? I haven't done anything!"  
"You are making it difficult for the other students to concentrate." His tone remained harsh.  
In reality, Kurt had been sitting quietly in the back, sinking deeper and deeper in his chair in an effort to "hide" from his taunting classmates. The words freak, devil and demon were being tossed around by the bullying students. As well as a few non-too-casual threats on his well- being. If anything, Rogue should have been the one to get kicked out of class. Against Kurt's plea, Rogue was taking her try at throwing back few threats.  
The teacher's lack of respect and blaming of Kurt on the disturbance that was once his classroom infuriated Kurt. Not being able to take anymore, he abruptly stood from his desk causing his chair to fall backwards. There was a loud crash as the metal hit the hard linoleum floor causing the room to hush.  
"All I did vas come to class! How can you punish me for that?!" His fist hit the desktop as he spoke, the anger oozing from his words as he unknowingly let out a deep growl along with them.  
This brought a look of fear to the faces of many people he had once considered friends. Even Rogue was silent, a little shocked at the reaction from her care free companion. Kurt stood, his breathing heavy from the adrenaline. He instantly realized his mistake of yelling as he surveyed the terrified faces, including Mr. Startford. Kurt sent an apologetic glance in Rogue's direction before picking up his bag.  
"Fine." He stated his tone was still a little harsh, but the volume was back to normal. "I'll leave." And he left the classroom.  
He silently walked through the empty hallways, angry at the world and the unfairness of his life. All he wanted was to finish high school, he was so close and he wasn't about to let anyone ruin it for him.  
As he rounded the corner to his locker bay, stomping a little more loudly than necessary, he came across a sight that brought him new hope.  
There was Katherine Pryde, his best friend and teammate. The incredibly intelligent bookworm that rogue had gone to calling "Little Miss A+". She was obviously skipping class to be in the halls at this hour, but it wasn't this that touched Kurt so much. Here she was on her knees scrubbing off the foul red letters that had once adorned his locker.  
Actually a little surprised that she hadn't heard him approach, he quietly stepped aside to watch her for a moment, hidden in the shadows of the corner.  
Kurt had always thought Kitty was pretty, but lately, he had been noticing just how incredibly beautiful she was. And it wasn't just the curly hair. Although, as he watched the the spiraling tendrils dance along her back as she continued to scrub, he knew he preferred them. It wasn't just her outward appearance that had gained his attention lately either, the friendship she shared with him made it obvious just how beautiful her soul was as well.  
Feeling a little guilty for watching her, he left his shadows as he walked quietly towards her. Although his image inducer made it appear that he wore shoes, his awkward feet weren't really designed for them and his almost paw-like toes padding softly across the linoleum.  
"Danke." He said softly, failing in avoiding to startle her as he noticed her jump a little.  
"Kurt? Hi. Why aren't you in class?" Her cheeks flushed and she almost seemed a little embarrassed as she finished up, dropping the scrub brush back into the bucket of soapy water.  
"I should ask you zhe same thing Keety, but I guess I know zhe answer."  
He offered his hand to her and pulled her up to her feet.  
"I was going to surprise you and have it done before lunch break." She said sounding a little disappointed.  
"Sorry I showed up early, but I'm still surprised. Thank you Katzchen."  
They stood in a silence that was emphasized by the empty hallways.  
"So," Kitty spoke up softly. "I take it class didn't go well?"  
"Vell, Chemistry vas all right, but apparently just my *being there* vas too distracting for Mr. Startford." Kurt had fortunately had time to calm down, but he could still feel his blood boil a little as he explained this to his friend.  
Kitty nodded in understanding, not really surprised for that particular teacher's rude behavior.  
"People can be such jerks." She grumbled.  
"Ja vell, people like you make up for them."  
She smiled and looked away.  
"Let me, like, go and ditch this" Kitty lifted the bucket by it's handle. "and we can hang out until lunch." She walked off towards the janitor's closet as Kurt put his bag in his locker.  
The two spent the next hour or so sitting outside talking. It was starting to look more like summer everyday. It was actually a little hot in the sunlight so they found a big tree with some good shade and climbed up into one of the lower branches. Kitty was leaning comfortably against the trunk with one leg pulled up to her chest, her arm draped over her knee. Kurt noticed her scrapes from earlier that week.  
"You seem to be healing nicely." He said pointing them out.  
She yawned a little as she looked down at the red marks. "Yeah, it was just a few scrapes. I am still a little sore from the 'port though. I can't even imagine how you must feel."  
"I'm used to it." He said as he shrugged and then flinched, having apparently moved his arm the wrong way. "For zhe most part." He added with a sheepish grin.  
"Hey..." his voice changed to concerned. "Are you still having problems with your phasing?"  
"Nah, I'm fine. I've just been a little "off" lately." She looked away as she smiled. She wasn't about to worry Kurt by telling him about all the incidents she'd had lately.  
"You're a bad liar Miss Pryde." He used in what he felt was his most teacher-like tone, but he cut her slack anyway and continued on. "But I know vhat you mean about feeling "off". After zhe other day and zhis morning, I've been avoiding 'porting anywhere."  
"Afraid that next time you might end up in the Blob's shower or something?" She began to laugh.  
"Ugh! Don't even say zhat!" He made a disgusted face, sticking out his tongue as if he had tasted something foul.  
As their laughter died down, he shifted back to his previous thoughts. "Ve should probably talk to zhe professor and see if he can figure out vhat is vrong vith us."  
"Yeah, but let's focus on getting through today first." Kitty hopped down from her branch and looked up at him. "It's about time for lunch, you wanna go meet everyone?"  
He hopped down beside her and let out a sigh. "Ja, okay."  
The two wandered in, leaving behind the warm, fresh spring air for the cool stale air inside the school.  
Rogue, Ray and Evan were already waiting for them.  
  
End chapter 8: 'Feeling Freakish'  
  
Sorry this took so long with all the holidays and such. I was going to put the whole day in this chap, but it was a good breaking point and I wanted to post before you all forgot about me. I hope you don't think that I'm dragging it out too much. Give me input please! And I promise that the next few days will not last nearly as long as the first. I hope everyone's holidays were enjoyable and relaxing! 


	9. Kurt's Tale

Chapter 9 - 'Kurt's Tale'  
  
Several Jamies were sitting around the living room anxiously awaiting the return of the older students from school. They were munching on cheddar cheese and sour cream chips and watching cartoons as they tried to distract themselves for the unbearable thirty minute difference between the end of their school day and when the others arrived home. Jamie didn't really mind that he was so much younger than most of the students at Xavier's. But it did bother him that he was only in Middle school, it made him feel as if he was always out-of-the-loop. It seemed like so much stuff happened at the High School that he would never even hear about until weeks later.  
However, the last few days had been different. The rumor of the Xavier student who looked like a demon had made it all the way from Bayville High to Winston Middle school in record time. By yesterday afternoon all the kids on his bus were asking if he knew the demon kid. The rumors and stories today had been even better and Jamie could hardly wait to hear what had happened that afternoon.  
Scott had been walking through the living room on his way to the library when he noticed the slew of Jamies twiddling their thumbs as they sat watching the front door more closely than the television.  
"What's up with you...guys?" Scott asked, always unsure as to whether he should refer to them as one or as a group.  
"Huh?" All seven Jamies turned to him looking quite dazed. It was one thing for someone to be staring off into space, but it was a little bit creepy to see seven identical people all looking as though they were in some sort of trance.  
"Are you all right? You're just sitting there staring at the door. I mean, you don't even seem to care that you're watching some bad after school special." He asked a little concerned.  
"What? Ugh, it was cartoons." One of the Jamie's sitting on the floor responded. Another on the couch clicked off the television with the remote. A third one continued. "I'm waiting for the others to get back from school, something big happened and I want to know the dirt!"  
"What do you mean?" Scott's voice changed dramatically, he sounded like an angry father who just found out something happened to his car.  
Before Scott could continue, one of the Jamies nearest the windows stood up shouting. "Hey they're home!"  
The crowd, made up of the young boy went spilling out the front door in the direction of the others parking their car. Scott followed closely behind, concerned over what kind of trouble Kurt had gotten himself into.  
"Soooooo?" One of the Jamies asked as the group of seniors made their way into the house.  
"So, What?" Rouge answered, rolling her eyes at the younger boy.  
"What happened? How did it go?"  
Jamie walked right past Rouge to come face to face with Nightcrawler, completely missing her cynicism. In fact, it was more likely that he had not even noticed that she had responded.  
Kurt looked down at the younger boy. If he had thought the kid was worried about him he might have cared more, but he knew that he was just fishing for gossip.  
"So, is it true that you freaked out in the cafeteria today?" All of the Jamie's eyes were wide and full of excitement.  
"Ja." Kurt muttered half under his breath and went into the house from the garage. All of the Jamies on his heel as well as everyone else.  
"So, you seriously flaunted your fuzzy blue self all over the lunchroom, yet again?" Jamie asked way too enthusiastically. He was not known for his tactfulness and this was something becoming more and more obvious with every word he spoke.  
The entire group had unknowingly formed a circle around Kurt waiting to hear what he would say.  
"Ja." Was again, Kurt's half whispered response.  
"Oh man! I cannot believe that I missed that!" Yelled one of the Jamies.  
However the much more notable response came from Scott Summers.  
"You did what!? Are you trying to get the shit beat out of you?!"  
The room fell silent. Most of the students couldn't decide which surprised them more; Scott's yelling or his cursing.  
He had gained the attention of Kurt however, the two had their eyes locked on one another. Scott's expression was of exasperation while Kurt's was of hurt and a little anger.  
Before the elf had a chance to respond, he was quickly cut off by two of his teammates, Rogue and Kitty.  
"That is like, so not how it happened!" Kitty interjected. Quickly followed by Rogue.  
"It's not like he had a choice!" Her accent was harsh.  
"This is so great!" One of the Jamies said to another, very glad that they were able to partake in this argument.  
"Shut up!" Came from every other student in the room, all casting an angry look at the Jamie that was closest to them.  
Kurt took this opportunity as the room fell silent to tell his side of the story. It was true that things did not go as planned during his lunch hour today, but not quite as dramatically due to his part as Jamie had made it seem.  
Kurt thought back to that afternoon as he retold the events. he remembered having a bad feeling about the cafeteria, but had just brushed it off as remnants of the day before.  
The group of young mutants had made their way into the lunch room, getting the normal amounts of stares and whispers that was to be expected. What they weren't expecting was the shout from a certain silver-haired mutant that echoed across from the other side of the room.  
"Hey blue boy! Fuzz freak! Demon spawn!"  
An instant later the shouting was right in front of them.  
"You know, elf. I'm not so sure that everyone was able to get a good look at you yesterday."  
In another instant Pietro had sped back over to the other side of the room. With him, Kurt's watch that he had snatched right off of his wrist. Once again, leaving the poor blue mutant exposed in everyone's sight, feeling more than a little vulnerable.  
This time however, Kurt was determined to stand up and fight, so to speak.  
The half second it had taken Pietro to run back to the other side of the room was just barely enough time for anyone to figure out what had happened. By the time they did, Kurt had already begun to march towards Pietro who was now standing on the top of a table in the center of the cafeteria.  
"Kurt." Rogue had called out to him, not even really sure if she knew what she had intended to say.  
"Not this time Rogue. It's too late, he's gotta stand up for himself." Evan explained, his hand on her shoulder as if to keep her from running after him.  
Kitty was unable to speak. She was terrified for her friend having to face his biggest fear for the second day in a row. At the same time, she was absolutely full of admiration for his bravery.  
The entire student body was watching the scene play out. The blue mutant walked quickly to the table where the white-haired mutant stood. The blue mutant's tail seemed to twitch in an agitated way.  
"Give it back Pietro." He stated forcefully, looking up at him with his hand extended.  
Quicksilver, in all of his maturity had switched the watch to his other hand, holding it way out beyond the other edge of the table in a taunting manner.  
"I dunno hairball, I think it's only fair to let the student body see what kind of mutants they've been sharing their classrooms with. And I'm pretty sure there were a few who didn't get to see you yesterday."  
Before Kurt could respond to Pietro's taunts, the watch had been snatched from his hand. Everyone with their eyes on Quicksilver had quickly looked over to see that it was Principal Kelly who had taken it.  
"Causing more problems today Wagner?" Kelly asked in a rather depreciating manner. "It's not enough to get kicked out of one class, you have to cause a scene in the lunchroom too?"  
"It's not his fault and you know it!" Kitty had shouted at Kelly, coming up to stand beside Kurt before he himself had been able to respond. Although he had his jaw clenched so tight, he wasn't sure he would have been able to.  
"Well I think that Mr. Maximoff here has a rather good point." Principal Kelly said, glowering up at the other young mutant. "I think we should have been shown, what kind of filth we were sharing our school with."  
"Fine!" Kurt's voice was about two octaves lower than usual and full of anger, obviously he had had enough. "If this is what you want, than take a good look! Here I am, the walking blue FREAK SHOW!"  
Every word that escaped his mouth was laced with sarcasm and anger. Not even really knowing what he was doing, Kurt leapt up onto the table next to Pietro. He startled the silver-haired boy enough to cause him to lose his balance and fall off. While in his new vantage point, Kurt held his arms out beside him as if putting himself on display.  
"Here I am! This is me, the mutant freak that sat beside you everyday for the last three years!"  
After completing one full circle, Kurt leaned down face to face with Principal Kelly, who had apparently been stunned into a silence.  
"Happy now?" The words rolled off his tongue with a growl. Without hesitation, Kurt swiped his watch back from the principal's hand, latched it on his wrist, turned it on and hoped down from the table, all in one fluid motion. "Because I'm starving." Kurt added, leaving Kelly standing there looking a quite dumbfounded and terrified. He turned his back to the silent authority figure as he walked away to join his group.  
As Kurt and the others began to leave, his performance actually gained a few cheers and applause from the crowd. As much as the majority of the students hated mutants, they despised their new principal even more and anyone making him look like an ass deserved a cheer.  
  
"Augh! I can't believe I missed that!" Shouted all of the Jamies as soon as Kurt was done recounting the afternoon.  
"Ja, you're pretty much the only one who did." Kurt added.  
"What happened after that?" Jamie sounded rather exasperated at that point.  
"Not much really. I finished the day, about zhe same as the morning. Although feeling a bit more confident, I must confess."  
Kitty lit up as she noticed the hint of a grin in the corner of Kurt's mouth.  
Apparently done with his story telling, Kurt devoted his entire attention to the sandwich he had started making about half way through his tale. Most of the group seemed to not have even realized until that point that they had followed Kurt all the way into the kitchen.  
Honestly, for Kitty, it had become second nature. When she was with Kurt, they almost always ended up in the kitchen at some point in time.  
Most everyone satisfied with the story, began to exit the kitchen, although Jamie's moaning could be heard for quite some time after his departure. The only ones remaining were Kitty who was sitting on the counter eating an apple, Kurt already half way through his sandwich and Scott who was looking a little guilty.  
"Hey Kurt, I'm sorry man. I really had no place to yell at you like that." He spoke up.  
Kurt put down the last of his snack so that he could look up at the older boy.  
"Eet's all right, you vere just being my 'Big Brother Scott'"  
"Either way, I'm sorry. I mean, you really amaze me sometimes. I'm sure that I could never go through what you did and walk away with a smile on my face." Scott added, truly proud of his younger "brother".  
"Ja, vell, I've had a lot of years of practice." He smiled before finishing his sandwich.  
  
end chapter 9 - 'Kurt's Tale'  
  
A/N: Alright, I know that took awhile to get posted, but luckily I had an evening of inspiration and I got this and the next chapter finally, completely written out! I was even going to make it one big chapter, but I figured this way you got something to read while I typed up the next one. And I promise it will have more Kurtty moments than this one! ;o)  
  
As always, if you read it, please review it! I really want to know your thoughts, even if it's bad or only a couple words. On average, I only get about 8 reviews per chapter and I know more people than that are reading it. Pretty Pretty Please with a cherry on top! Thanks!  
  
Also I finally added an e-mail address to my account, so if you have any suggestions, critiques, comments, random info, or you just wanna talk, then by all means, send me an e-mail!  
  
Random tidbit of the day: My little brother is a big fan of Weezer and just recently got me into it. I was listening to 'In the Garage' off the self titled blue album the other day, I had heard it many times before, but it was the first time I had ever noticed the opening lyrics, they go like this: "I've got a Dungeon Master's guide I've got a twelve-sided die I've got, Kitty Pryde and Nightcrawler too waiting there for me, yes I do. I do!" I am totally not joking, my brother is a huge comic book fan as well and he had never noticed! You should check it out! End random tidbit of the day.  
  
Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! Kittyduck, Nightcrawler03, Lizard Queen1, Darkness1, odin, Aqueous, Stormheart, Shadow-Kitty-Cat, Sagira Akila, oldprydefan, Quill of Molliemon, jwink! You guys and gals ROCK! 


	10. Poked and Prodded

Chapter 10 - 'Poked and Prodded'

The next few days at school seemed to fly by. For Kurt Wagner, this was very much a blessing. By the time Thursday had rolled around the 'blue mutant freak' was beginning to become old news. Thank God for the turnover rate of teenage gossip. He still got stares and whispers, but he could deal with that. And as long as Mr. Stratford continued to suppress the urge to kick him out of class, the week should end smoothly.

On this lovely afternoon, school was out for the day and most of the young mutants found themselves outside on the grounds enjoying the early summer weather while ignoring the vast amounts of homework they all had as finals grew near. Rogue, Jubilee and Bobby had hit the swimming pool as soon as they got home. Ray, Evan, Scott and Rahne had started up a game of Ultimate Frisbee while Amara and a few others could be found reading a book or just relaxing in the warmth of the sun.

Kurt and Kitty however, could only imagine how much fun everyone was having as they found themselves sitting in Dr. McCoy's cold, stale medlab being poked, prodded and examined by the good doctor himself.

In light of the recent events at school, the two had managed to avoid a visit up until this point, which was somewhat ironic, considering it was Kitty's phasing issues that had caused all the problems at school.

In fact, over the last few days it seemed that their problems had gotten somewhat better, even though Kurt's temporary solution was just to avoid teleporting all together. And Kitty had sworn to him that she was doing great, even though he thought she looked a little under the weather. She had just said that it must be her hay-fever kicking in.

The event that had finally drawn the line had happened this morning. The two had both managed to oversleep which wasn't that strange considering that it was usually Kurt's job to drag Kitty out of bed in the morning. So it happened that, on the rare occasions that he managed to oversleep, so did she. The rest of the group had left without them, leaving them to drive themselves to school. In their frantic rush, they had made it all the way out to the car before Kurt had realized that he had forgotten his holowatch upstairs in his room.

"Sciesse! I'll be right back Kitty."

He had bamfed away, forgetting in his rush that he was trying not to use his power. In an instant, he reappeared beside Kitty, right where he had started.

"That was fast." She had said.

It was at this point that Kurt began to worry. He had seemed to be so quick only because he hadn't actually gone anywhere. He had teleported right back to where he had already been standing.

Not once in all the time since he had gained his power of teleportation had he attempted to 'port and not been able to go anywhere. When he was beginning to learn how it worked, he had often messed up where he was going, or miscalculated just how far off the ground he needed to be, but this was most definitely a first. He even attempted to 'port to his room one more time with little success.

So, the two mutually agreed that as soon as they got home from school they would go and talk with the professor. The Professor, in return, had sent them to be examined by Dr. Henry McCoy, or 'Beast' as he was otherwise known. He had achieved this nickname by being the other blue and hairy mutant of the household, and while Kurt's slim stature earned him the nickname 'elf', Hank was built more like a gorilla. So, it was in Beast's med lab that they found themselves an hour or so later.

"You say this all began last weekend?" The doctor asked them.

The two nodded, looking a bit frustrated having had already told him that particular fact. It wasn't even so much that Henry McCoy needed to ask the question again, or that he was even searching for an answer, he just merely preferred to think out loud.

He continued to carry on with his verbal problem solving.

"And the first time you realized that there was something wrong with your ability to teleport was when you accidentally found Kitty in the attic?" He adjusted his glasses with one hand as he shook a finger in Kurt's direction and then at Kitty as he mentioned the two students. He then began to pace the room of the infirmary.

"And the second time..." He paused and flipped back in his notes before continuing. "I don't believe that you said where that happened?" He stopped pacing and turned to look at the fuzzy blue youth sitting in a chair beside his friend.

Kurt and Kitty had indeed managed to leave out that particular detail of their story, not really wanting to explain to one of their guardians that they had unintentionally ended up in the shower together.

Kitty, for her part, was glad that Dr. McCoy's attention was set on Kurt because she could feel the color rising in her cheeks as he questioned them. Kurt himself, was thankful for the fact that his indigo coat managed to conceal his own blush.

"Um." Kurt cleared his throat. "Keety vas getting ready for school, and I 'ported to the bathroom." He hoped that he had sounded innocent.

"I see." Hank said, lifting an eyebrow way above the rim of his reading glasses before returning to his pace.

"And this last time, you were already with Ms. Pryde and when you attempted to teleport you were unable to go anywhere?"

"Ja."

"Wait!" Hank stopped pacing rather abruptly and pointed at the two. "I think I'm onto something. Kurt, Kitty, come stand over here please."

The two looked reluctantly at each other before hopping down and going to the middle of the room where Henry was standing.

"Kurt I want you to try and teleport to the hallway just outside of this room, okay?"  
"All right." Kurt shrugged his shoulders before a thick black cloud of sulfur replaced him for a fraction of a second before he returned in it's place. He looked at Kitty and then over to the doctor as if to say, "I told you that wouldn't work."

Hank was scribbling stuff down on his clipboard and didn't pay any attention to the looks he was receiving from the two kids.

"Excellent. Now Kurt, try the same thing again, but this time take Kitty with you."

"I don't think that is such a good idea Herr McCoy. Vhat if something goes wrong. I have no control over vhere I'm porting right now, I wouldn't vant something bad to happen to Keety."

Kitty smiled inward, appreciating Kurt's concern over her well being.

"I understand your concern Kurt, but I would not ask you to do such a thing if I didn't trust that it would be safe." Dr. McCoy stated simply.

Kurt reluctantly turned to face his best friend and put his hands on her shoulders. He felt much more relieved now that he could see that she didn't look worried.

"Here goes nothing." She said.

The residual sound of Kurt's signature 'bamf' could be heard as Kurt and Kitty reappeared. Kurt stood with his eyes shut, his hands still on her shoulders.

"Fuzzy! You did it!" she squealed before hugging her relieved companion.

Kurt opened his eyes one at a time, glad that he hadn't accidentally teleported his best friend into a wall or anything.

Caught in the moment he hugged her back. This was what made his life tolerable these days. He could completely loose himself in a hug from Kitty. When she was in his arms, he would absorb her warmth and scent and devote it to memory making all other problems in his world fade away in mere seconds. Today she smelled of Pear scented bath products and cherry chapstick, mixed with the lingering odor of fire and brimstone from their port.

Hank cleared his throat rather loudly from the doorway, to gain the attention of the two teenagers who quickly ended their embrace and followed the doctor back into the lab sitting down in their respective chairs.

"So let me explain what I have concluded." Beast said as he flipped back through his pages on his clipboard.

"It seems that, Kurt, you have been able to help Kitty gain control over her phasing." He flipped through a few more pages. "And every time Kurt's teleportation had been off, he has ended up wherever you, my dear, have been." He looked over his reading glasses at Kitty. "Which appears to be unaffected if he's teleporting with you." Hank began to rub his chin absentmindedly as he thought this over.

The trio sat in silence for quite some time while Hank mumbled to himself and scribbled notes as he continued to flip through his chart.

Kitty sat spinning her ring around her thumb in idle amusement and yawned as she could feel her eyelids growing heavier by the minute. It felt as if they had been there for ages. She glanced over to see how Kurt was doing and smiled when she saw the look on his face which clearly read, "What the hell is he doing?" As he watched Dr. McCoy work.

She thought back to the hug they had shared earlier in the hallway. She herself had always been a touchy- feely person, but Kurt had most definitely not been. It had taken much work over the time they had been friends to make sure that he felt comfortable around her. Even so, it seemed, as they had discussed in the hammock earlier that week, that he had not been as comfortable as she had thought. But it seemed as though they had made great progress since then.

Now, when she hugged him, he hugged back. It was a wonderful sensation for her. It was one place where she felt truly safe, even in light of all the problems the two of them had faced recently. As she thought this over, she realized just how much she enjoyed hugging Kurt and just how much she ached to be near him whenever she could. Her daydream was cut short by Beast breaking the silence.

"I think I've got something!" Hank abruptly spoke up, causing the two to jump a little in their chairs.

"Saturday, when you two were caught in the storm, you teleported both of you to safety, correct?" Hank again, pointed to Kurt.

"Ja. First vhen ve vere falling I had to teleport us up and then again to get us to the camp."

"Why did you risk teleporting so far, so soon after a vertical teleport?" Hank asked full of curiosity.

"A tree vas about to fall on us."

"Why didn't you just phase the two of you out of harms way?" Hank looked over at Kitty who was also clearly trying to remember.

"I did phase us." Kitty came to realize.

"So you used both of your powers at the same time?"

"Ja."

"I guess so."

"Zhat's a bad thing, I take it?" Kurt asked.

"Indubitably." Hank stated simply. "Although, that could explain why all of a sudden, your powers are affecting one another. They seem to be connected, some how, 'tethered' to each other, if you will. You can't teleport without being drawn to Kitty. And you can gain control over your powers when Kurt is near." The blue doctor trailed off.

"And this helps us how?" Kitty asked a little flustered.

"Well, at the moment it doesn't, but Jean should be done running the tests on those samples I took earlier. And hopefully by tomorrow we should have some more answers."

Dr. McCoy, the scientist at heart, seemed rather excited about these strange findings and wasted little time shoeing the two students out of his lab so he could continue with some more research.

The pair, not really feeling any more at ease, made it upstairs just in time for dinner.

During their meal, Kurt seemed to be the only one who noticed that Kitty wasn't really eating. In fact, the more he watched her, the more he noticed that she looked rather ill, she seemed absolutely exhausted and had rather noticeable bags under her eyes.

He approached her after dinner, but she insisted that everything was fine before heading upstairs to do some last minute homework before bed.

Kurt realized too, that with all the time they had spent in the infirmary that afternoon, he had quite a bit of homework himself. After reading two chapters, finishing his English paper and completing thirty questions for math, it was nearing 1:00 am and Kurt decided to grab a small snack before heading to bed.

He wandered quietly down the dark hallway, not needing any artificial light with his heightened eye sight. As he descended the stairs, he thought to himself how bothersome it was to have to walk everywhere, if he had teleported to the kitchen he could have been back already.

He was half way across the living room when he heard a movement. Glancing over the darkened room he noticed the back of a curly head of hair leaning against the couch.

"Katzchen?" He whispered softly.

"Kurt?!" She jumped, it seemed she had been nodding off a little and he had surprised her.

"Vhat are you doing down here in the dark?" He asked as he wandered around to the front of the couch to find her sitting in some boxer shorts and a matching baby tee.

"Can't sleep." She muttered and Kurt noticed that she looked even worse than she had at dinner.

"You look like you're tired." He stated, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm exhausted." She squeaked, it seemed as if she might start crying.

"Katzchen, vhat is wrong?"

"I'm scared." She said so softly that he even had to strain to hear it. A moment later, she continued. "The other morning, when you found me phasing through my bed?" He nodded. "Well, that's like, not the only time it's happened. The next day I woke up on the floor in one of the subbasements..." She shook a little as she spoke and Kurt put his arm around her, silently waiting for her to finish. "...I couldn't figure out where I was."

"I'm just so afraid of what could happen. I mean, what if I phase out underground and I can't find my way back before I run out of air?" Her voice became louder and more frantic as she went on. "Or what if I phase halfway into a wall and then wake up solid?"

"Ever since I first discovered my power, I have had this nightmare where I start phasing through the ground and I keep on falling and falling until I'm so deep underground that there's no light and no one to help me... I feel like that nightmare is coming true." A shiver ran through her body and several tears rolled down her cheek.

"I haven't slept in days, Kurt."

He pulled her closer to him and held her tight, trying to comfort her. A small part of him was a little hurt that she hadn't told him sooner about all of this, but he also knew that for whatever reason, she had done it with his best interest in mind. He ran his fingers through her hair as she cried softly into his arms, when he had a realization.

"Maybe the good doctor hasn't discovered how to cure us yet, but I do believe that ve have a temporary solution to our problem." He stated.

Kitty wiped away the last few tears and looked up at her friend.

"Eet seems that your powers vill stay in check as long as you have me around."

She tilted her head and raised an eyebrow, her sleep-clogged thought was not understanding what he was proposing.

Kurt stood gracefully, lifting Kitty up into his arms and teleported them both into his dark bedroom. The moonlight was coming in through his french doors casting blocks of light across the carpet. Kurt softly padded over to his bed and gently laid her weak form upon it.

"You'll be safe with me Katzchen, now you can get some sleep." He pulled the covers up over her.

"Aren't we breaking a few school rules?" Kitty asked, a yawn cutting into the last word.

"I won't tell." Kurt placed a hand over his heart. "Besides, I'm sure they vould understand."

This gained him a smile. He walked around to the other side of the large four-poster bed and grabbed the other pillow. He began to move away, when she called out to him.

"Where are you going?"

"I'll be right here on the floor next to you. You'll be fine." He assured her.

Even in her exhausted state Kitty was able to appreciate his display of gentlemanly behavior.

"Kurt, I'm not about to let you sleep on the floor, just come up here." She patted the empty spot beside her.

She could sense his unease, no doubt, he was again feeling a little self conscious about someone so close to him. Worrying that his tail or fur would make them uneasy.

"Kurt really, I'm okay with it if you are."

It took another moment, but he finally crawled into bed next to her. Of course, not before stopping to slip on a T-shirt to go with his pajama pants.

As he settled in, Kitty curled up next to his form.

"Thank you." She said softly.

"Of course, meine liebe." He responded even quieter, a little bit surprised at himself for his choice of words. He needn't worry whether or not she had noticed, because he could tell by the rhythm of her breathing beside him that she had already fallen asleep.

"Good night Kitty."

End chapter 10 - 'Poked and Prodded'

NEW - want to see an illustration for this chapter? Follow this link: img./albums/v664/Queequegg17/kkcarrysmall.jpg

A/N: Sorry that took so long, hopefully the next one should be sooner. Look forward to some obvious Kurtty-ness in the next few chapters! As always thanks to everyone who reviewed! I got an awesome response with the last chapter, please keep it up and review this one as well!


	11. Good Morning

Chapter 11 - 'Good Morning'  
  
Kurt laid on his side curled up in his bed watching the morning's first rays of sunlight creep into the small amount of sky that he could just barely see through his balcony doors. He had always been an early riser, but on this particular day he had found himself awake for quite some time now. The reason behind his early rouse was in the form of Katherine Pryde who was still sleeping soundly beside him.  
  
He had brought her to his bed the previous night with the completely innocent intentions of helping her sleep. She was his best friend, for goodness sake, and she had been in need. At the moment it had seemed such a simple and logical solution to her problem. However, as the night progressed, Kurt found that his flinting feelings of 'much-more-than- friendliness' for Kitty were greatly intensified as her warm body curled beside him in her sleep.  
  
Kurt had always felt an attraction towards Kitty and knew that deep down he cared for her much more than he was willing to admit. Over three years ago he had drawn a line of friendship with her that he had refused to ever cross. He had never had this close of a relationship to anyone and he wasn't about to ruin that by trying to make a move on a feeling that he wasn't sure she would reciprocate.  
  
Even then, as much as he knew that he shouldn't even think of such things, he had a hard time believing that anyone, let alone the girl he yearned for, would ever want to be "romantically involved" with someone like himself who so closely resembled a demon or monster. He honestly knew that Kitty wold throw a fit with him for being so self-loathing, but sometimes the reality of it all was hard for him to ignore.  
  
It was these thoughts that had kept him from falling asleep for sometime. And then it seemed just minutes had past when he found himself being awakened in his bed by the objects of such thoughts. Then as he declared to himself that he could easily lay beside her and have purely "best friend" thoughts, she shifted in her sleep and curled up against him.  
  
This was definitely the most intimate setting he had ever found himself in with another person, more specifically a woman. Sure, he and Amanda had fallen asleep while cuddling during a movie, but this, this was beyond that. They were in his bed, they had come here intentionally and he had never dreamed of Amanda the way he found himself dreaming of Kitty.  
  
Kurt had been on his side of the bed as far up over to the edge as he could get when Kitty scooted up behind spooning him. One of her arms casually draped over his shoulder and across his chest. He knew that she had done it unknowingly, she had probably just gotten cold from the open window. He could tell by the soft cadence of her breathing behind his ear that she was still sound asleep.  
  
A small shiver had trailed down his spine as her first warm breath had grazed over the sensitive hairs along the outer edge of his ear. The thoughts he had at that exact moment were completely out of control of the rational part of his brain.  
  
His tail which liked to wander on it's own had apparently disliked being pinned between he and Kitty and had pushed it's way out between her legs only to coil itself around her thigh. By the time Kurt had realized where it had gone off too, he was afraid that moving it would just wake her up and inform her of his incriminating position.  
  
Uncontrolled by him, the offending appendage twitched a little adjusting it's grip on her leg. Kurt was trying desperately to ignore how silky and smooth her legs felt against the suede like fur of his tail. He was easily distracted when Kitty's body reacted to his movement, she squirmed a little as if the sensation had tickled. After she relaxed again she squeezed up against his back, nuzzling her face into the back of his neck and tightening the grip around his chest.  
  
"Mein Gott. How did I get myself into this?" Kurt thought to himself as he watched the clock tick by while trying to think of as many unarousing subjects as he could.  
  
Finally, the dull green illuminated numbers of his bedside clock declared that it would be a reasonable time to awaken his sleeping companion. He felt a little guilty, disrupting her first good nights sleep in days, but he also knew that she would want to get ready for school. Plus, he really didn't want to have anyone finding the two of them in bed together. Sure, it could all be explained, but he would really rather avoid it for now.  
  
"Keety." He called out softly.  
  
She responded with a muffled sound into the nape of his neck sending a jolt through his body.  
  
"Keety it's time to get up." He added after her prolonged silence.  
  
Kitty slowly opened her eyes to find herself staring into the back of a fuzzy blue neck. For a split second she had to place where she was and how she had gotten there. She soon remembered her friend's kind offer and a warm feeling of contentment washed over her as she realized for the that first time all week, that she felt rested.  
  
"I'd rather stay here." She mumbled, her voice still groggy.  
  
"Ja, vell I can't really argue vith that. However, I don't think that skipping classes today vouldn't really be such a good idea. Ve're already sorta treading on thin ice as it is."  
  
Kurt heard a muffled groan of complaint.  
  
"At least it's Friday." He added. He was quite impressed with himself for coming up with reasons why she should get out of bed, when he so desperately wanted her to stay.  
  
Kitty blinked a few times as she became more alert and awake. She went to rub her eyes and realized where her hand had been, wrapped around Kurt's chest. She could feel his short fur shift between the material of his T-shirt and against his hard abdominal muscles. She then realized that her entire body was pressed up against the back of his. She didn't remember snuggling up so close last night and was a little embarrassed at finding herself in this position. Not that she really minded being so close to the man that had been consuming so much of her thoughts as of lately. She noted that he was holding very still and wondered whether or not he minded their current placement. She hesitated for a second before beginning to move away when she noticed something ... was that his tail snaked between her legs and around her thigh?  
  
The appendage in question took another moment to twitch, moving behind her knee which just happened to be an extremely ticklish spot for her.  
  
"Aaah!" Kitty squeaked out and her body tried automatically to move away from the source of the sensation.  
  
Kurt leapt instantly out of bed with such speed that he could have given Quicksilver a run for his money.  
  
"Keety! I'm so sorry, I did not mean too, eet has a mind of eet's own!" He said equally as fast. He stood holding his tail in the same manner one would picture a young child holding their blanket.  
  
Kitty had sat up after Kurt's abrupt departure completely confused as to what had happened.  
  
"Kurt?" She managed to say.  
  
"Keety," His voice was soft and his eyes were downcast. It was obvious to Kitty that he felt as if he had done something wrong, his entire posture screamed of guilt. "I vas not meaning to violate you." He choked out the last words.  
  
Kitty's heart sank to see him so upset with himself. She knew that he was always concerned about people's reactions to his carefree tail, but this seemed different. More likely this was more due to the fact that she doubted he had ever been, literally, this close to anyone before.  
  
"Kurt, it's fine. You just tickled me is all." She said softly as she climbed out of bed straightening her wrinkled tee. She could see him visibly relax as he looked up at her, concern in his eyes.  
  
"If anything," She added. "I was violating your personal space. I guess I never realized how much of a bed hog I am, sorry." She smiled sheepishly.  
  
He returned her smile and she instantly knew all was better.  
  
"You know," She went on at seeing his mood lighten. "You were the first guy I've ever slept with." She paused, a blush crept into her cheeks as she thought about her choice of words. "Well, slept *beside*... Not that I have slept with anyone before..." She noticed Kurt's eyebrows raise at her last statement and decided that she should get to her point quickly.  
  
"ANYWAYS, I just wanted to say that I liked it. It was comforting." There she said it, and it had the desired reaction of Kurt's smile widening.  
  
"That's just the exhaustion talking mein Katzchen. You could have slept next to a rock and thought it vas nice, as long as you didn't phase avay in the night."  
  
Kitty rolled her eyes at his comment. "Seriously Fuzzy, it was really nice."  
  
She stepped forward and hugged him. He dropped his tail and returned the embrace, wrapping his arms around her. Somewhere in the back of his mind he noticed that in her bare feet, as opposed to her usual platform shoes, she was actually quite shorter than himself. He liked that she seemed to almost fit there, he rested his chin on top of her head .  
"Thank you." She spoke softly into his chest.  
  
"Sie sind meine Liebe willkommen". He responded into her curls, accidentally slipping into his native tongue.  
  
"What did you say?" She asked, pulling back from the embrace just enough to look into his eyes. She had picked up on a decent amount of German over the years that he had lived there, and it wasn't uncommon for him to use it around her every now and then. However, it was uncommon for him to refer to her as "his Liebe", a word she most definitely recognized as "love". She was actually starting to wonder if she had just been hearing things as her heart began to speed up in anticipation of his response.  
  
"Huh?" Kurt hadn't even realized what he had said until it was out. "I said, You're welcome my friend." He fibbed, hoping that he sounded casual.  
  
"Oh, well I better go and get ready before Rogue comes looking for me." She paused. "Seriously, thanks again. I owe you BIG." She emphasized the last word. She stepped out of the hug as she moved towards the door, but squeezed his hand before completely leaving his arms.  
  
As he watched her depart, he took in a deep sigh and then headed for the showers.  
  
End Chapter 11 - 'Good Morning'  
  
Author's Notes: I don't actually speak ANY german, so I apologize if my translation was off. And I do realize that this was shorter than my usual chapters, but it just worked so well by itself. I probably only have about 3 or so chapters left. I hope that you are all still enjoying it and not just bored with the pace. Let me know if there's anything you really want to see happen before the story ends. I would love the input. And as always PLEASE REVIEW! Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter! 


	12. Prom Dates

Chapter 12 - 'Prom Dates'  
  
Kurt silently said a thanks to the heavens as the bell signaled the end of class on Friday. The day had gone exceptionally well and he was just thankful to have the upcoming weekend to relax.  
  
As soon as he departed his classroom, he headed down the hall to where Kitty would be exiting her's. After they had proven last night that Kitty's powers really were kept under control from being near Kurt; he had tried to make a conscious effort to be by her side all day. Not because she asked him too, Kitty was too proud for that, but because he knew that she was grateful. Besides, it's not as though he minded having an excuse to hang out with his gorgeous friend that he was completely infatuated with.  
  
As he rounded the corner of the long, locker lined linoleum hallways he passed the area where the "punks" usually hung out. The ones that wore all black, usually sported a few visible piercings and most of their outfits involved chains. Kurt didn't actually know anyone from this clique and was surprised to hear his last name called out as he passed.  
  
He stopped and turned around, his brain telling him a second too late to just ignore them and keep walking to avoid a confrontation.  
  
"You rock." Said one of the guys from the group in an unenthusiastic, but positive statement.  
  
Kurt glanced in his direction and then realized that he, along with most of the others in his group had newly dyed blue hair.  
  
"Uh, thanks." Kurt smiled and waved as he kept on walking.  
  
"I've gone from 'freak of the week' to fashion trend." He muttered to himself.  
  
He saw Kitty come out of her classroom, a smile formed across her face as she noticed him heading towards her.  
  
She walked up and took his hand in hers, something she had just started doing two passing periods earlier. Even then it had seemed natural and Kurt thought to himself that he could get very used to this.  
  
The two had carpooled that morning with a few of the younger students and had decided to walk home and enjoy the beautiful weather. On their way out, they ran into Rogue just outside the building. She noticed the two holding hands, but mentally decided to ask Kurt about it later. Besides, she had better things on her mind at the moment. She smiled to herself as the pair approached.  
  
"Hey, what's up with you?" Kitty asked Rogue as they neared her.  
  
"Ja. You're all grins." Kurt added, noting the foreign smile she wore.  
  
"Huh?" Rogue tried to play dumb.  
  
"Come on roommie, spill. You can act like nothing's up, but like the glow is definitely giving you away."  
  
Rogue was trying to keep up her trademark, 'I don't give a damn about anything' attitude, but failed miserably after Kitty's prodding.  
  
"Ah got asked tah prom today." She finally said, attempting to make it sound as though it were no big deal.  
  
Kitty screamed and grabbed her roommate in a hug. "Oh my god, like who was it? When did it happen? How did he ask you?" She was talking so quickly that Rogue was glad she had practice deciphering her 'Valley Girl' talk.  
  
"This was in mah locker." She replied before pulling a long, thin, black box from her bag and handed it to Kitty. She opened it and inside was a note asking Rogue to prom along with a long stemmed rose that just happened to be made of ice.  
  
"Awwww." Kitty made a sound as if she were adoring a cute puppy. "Like I totally knew that Drake had a thing for you." She added.  
  
"Nah." Rogue tried to brush the thought away. "He just overheard me th'other night saying that ah would go if someone asked me."  
  
"Nothing like Bobby to vait until the last minute." Kurt said playfully.  
  
"Ah know! Prom is tomorrow night. Speaking of which, ah gotta go shopping, Kit you wanna come?"  
  
"Uh, no thanks. I've got some stuff to get to." Kitty answered awkwardly, surprising both present that she would turn down a shopping trip.  
  
"Awlright, well I'll see you two tonight then." Rogue waved as she walked off towards her car.  
  
Kurt and Kitty walked in a comfortable silence for the first part of their trip home.  
  
"How was your day?" Kitty asked, trying to sound casual, but Kurt noticed a hint of nervousness in her voice.  
  
"Not too bad." He said, a smile crept across his features. "Rouge vasn't the only one who got asked to prom today."  
  
"What?!" Kitty stopped dead in her tracks. "Seriously? Who?" She was suddenly having trouble forming sentences.  
  
"This girl Janie, in my Chemistry class. She's my lab partner." He casually answered and continued walking leaving Kitty standing dumbfounded behind him.  
  
She quickly picked up her pace and got back in stride with him, noticing that he looked al little smug having obviously caught her off guard.  
  
"Well, like what did you say?" She asked, trying to sound as though either way, she didn't care. She was thankful that his senses were not as acute as Mr. Logan's, or the thumping of her speeding heart would have surly given her away.  
  
"I politely declined." He answered.  
  
"Why?" Kitty asked, silently thankful that he had said "no".  
  
"I vasn't going to go anyways." He shrugged.  
  
"But it's your Senior Prom." She emphasized the title. "Besides, I thought you loved dances?"  
  
"Ja. But let's face it Keety, no one really vants me there. I'm just trying to avoid a confrontation."  
  
The young brunette stopped walking again, although this time it wasn't out of shock. She knew what he meant, how he felt unaccepted in their own school. Hell, she felt that way too, and aside from passing through walls, she was a pretty normal high school girl.  
  
She remembered how many times they as mutants had been shunned by their peers for showing up to dances or sporting events. She recalled all the glares that Scott and Jean received merely for attending their graduation, and knew that just as much was to be expected for their fast approaching graduation. At the same time, she could understand why the school felt that way after Magneto, The Brotherhood or any other angry mutant had caused a scene so many times before.  
  
"Well, I want you there." She said softly.  
  
Kurt had slowed down his pace, but now he too stopped so he could turn around and look at her.  
  
"Thanks Katzchen, but in case you forgot, they all know that I resemble a fuzzy blue monster." His words were cynical.  
  
"Yeah, so?" She said light heartedly, but with a determination in her voice. "They don't even seem to care anymore, you're last weeks news."  
  
"Ja, they don't care as long as I look like this!" He spoke louder now as he motioned to his hologram covered body. "They know who I really am, yet I hide behind this disguise every verdamnet day!" He slowed down and his voice level returned to normal. "I'm tired of hiding Keety."  
  
She came up to look him in the eye.  
  
"So here's your chance to show them the real you." She said seriously before adding, "Not too mention all those secret dance moves." She smiled at him.  
  
"Oh ja. That'd go over vell." His tone got serious and he looked back into her eyes. "Vhy do you vant me there so badly?"  
  
"Well." She stammered, she really did want him there, she just wasn't sure how to ask. "Now that Rogue, Bobby and Evan are going, we won't be the only mutants there. Besides ..." She took an audible swallow. "I was hoping you would be there for me." She all but whispered the last words having used up all her courage to say them.  
  
"Oh." Kurt's voice went cold and he took a step back from her. "I see. I guess it vouldn't do if you phased through your prom date."  
  
"What?" She asked softly confused by his sudden change of behavior.  
  
By this point in their conversation the two had arrived at the mansion and stood in the front yard.  
  
"No, really, it's no problem. I mean, what are friends for right?" He said dryly, all of his playfulness lost.  
  
"Kurt I didn't mean to upset you." Kitty felt horrible, her emotions were a mix of guilt and embarrassment. With all that had happened between the two recently, she had thought that he would enjoy accompanying her. She had even ridiculed herself over the fear of his rejection, now she realized why she had originally worried so much over him saying "no". She wished she could somehow go back in time and remove the invitation that now hung awkwardly between them.  
  
"Eet's fine." He stated obviously still upset. "Look, I have a Danger Room session to make up from Tuesday. I vill see you later okay. You know vhere to find me if you have any problems."  
  
Kitty's heart ached over hearing him so hurt, and knowing that somehow she had caused it. She felt even more guilty when he mentioned that he would help her if she had any more phasing problems, even though he obviously didn't even want to talk to her at the moment.  
  
"Okay, I'll see you later." She weakly replied.  
  
He was already half way in the front door when he added, "Don't forget to go see Dr. McCoy."  
  
"You're not coming?" She asked, remembering their appointment.  
  
"I'll go later." He said, shutting the door behind him while leaving Kitty standing in the front lawn, not quite sure of what had just happened.  
  
About an hour into their Danger Room sequence it was more than a little obvious to Scott that something was troubling his friend. Nightcrawler had been pushing himself much harder then necessary, making dangerous decisions and risky moves. Scott knew from his own personal experience that sometimes physical exertion could be the best way to rid oneself of a little stress, but if his friend got much worse, he was going to have to stop him.  
  
Kurt leapt out of the way as a projectile was shot in his direction. He attached himself to the wall, running on all fours in a manner completely impossible for most humans. Scott counteracted the attack by firing down as many of the projectiles as he could. The room equipped with all kinds of hazards for these young students to train against, continued to spring to life tossing out small explosives as metal tentacles writhered out of the walls grasping at the two boys as they sped through.  
  
Kurt already felt at a disadvantage, not being able to rely on his teleportation to get him out of harms way. At the moment however, he wasn't about to let that slow him down.  
  
The goal of this particular training exercise was to get past all of the obstacles across the room and make it to the other side where there was a large red lever that when pulled would end the program.  
  
Scott knew that Kurt was clear on the objective, that they only needed to avoid the obstacles, not destroy them. This being said, he was a bit irritated to see his blue companion ignore his clear shot at the red lever and instead choose to attack another weapon wielding machine.  
  
As Scott himself went for the lever, he was grabbed from behind. A large robotic hand quickly coiled tentacles around him enabling him to move while slowly crushing him.  
  
"Kurt, a little help here!" He hollered.  
  
Conveniently the hand that held him was keeping his head, or more importantly his destructive eyes, turned away from itself which just happened to give the older boy a good view of the fight his friend was engaged in.  
  
Metallic and fuzzy limbs blurred together as Nightcrawler used his speed and acrobatic agility to maneuver himself not only around his opponent, but on it as well. He was precisely avoiding lash after lash thrown out by the large machine as he quickly planted strategic blows around it with a sharp piece of shrapnel he had picked up along the way.  
  
"Watch out!" Cyclops yelled out, his lungs aching from the increasing pressure around his rib cage.  
  
Kurt hadn't heard him in time and took a rather nasty blow to the side, knocking him down to the ground. This gave the machine just enough time to coil out an arm tightly around his neck and lift him off the ground.  
  
"Kurt, you can reach the lever with your tail!"  
  
Scott's cries fell on deaf ears as his teammate swung his flexible body up to plant his feet on either side of the machine, hoping to tear off something that would cause it to break down.  
  
"Kurt!" Cyclops coughed out. "Hit the lever!" His body burned when he tried to inhale, all he could do was wait for Kurt to make his move, or at least get out of his way so he could get a clear shot of his adversary.  
  
Before he got his chance a cold automated voice could be heard ringing throughout the room.  
  
"Program terminated, designated safety level exceeded."  
  
Immediately every hazard in the room came to a full stop as the program automatically shut down. Both of the boys felt the grasp around them loosen and were dropped unceremoniously on the cold metal floor; coughing as they enjoyed the ease of breathing again.  
  
They laid there for a few moments catching their breaths.  
  
"You...okay?" Scott asked between coughs.  
  
Kurt laid still on his back, his breath returning to normal as he looked up at the mangled machinery above him that now stood eerily still.  
  
"Ja." He answered quietly. "Are you okay"  
  
"Yeah." The older by sat upright and dusted himself off. "But, I'm definitely going to feel it tomorrow." He added lightheartedly.  
  
"I'm sorry." Kurt said softly, but making sure that Scott could hear him.  
  
"Forget about it." He replied before offering a hand to his blue friend pulling him up. "But are you gonna tell me what's got you so riled up that a pile of metal just about had you for lunch?"  
  
"I vould have been fine if I could teleport, I'm just not used to fighting vithout it." He muttered angrily knowing that it was only half true. As he stood up he rolled his shoulders to stretch out a few kinks and winced upon discovering a rather large gash in his left arm.  
  
"Has Beast been able to figure out how to fix your and Kitty's powers?" Scott asked as he motioned for Kurt to follow him into the locker rooms where the two sat down and Kurt pressed a towel to his wound to stop the bleeding.  
  
"Nothing to fix it, he's just figured out that we are somehow affecting each other's powers and as long as I stay nearby Kitty she can keep her phasing in check." His answer was stale.  
  
"That doesn't seem like such a bad cure, now you have an excuse to hang around Kitty all day." Scott wiggled his eyebrows in a suggestive manner.  
  
"Or to be her chaperone so she and 'Rock Your World' Lance can go to prom." His voice was cold and angry.  
  
"Kitty didn't really ask you to do that did she? I mean, I know she can be a little self-centered sometimes, but..." Scott trailed off in disbelief.  
  
"Alvers asked her three weeks ago, and she so kindly asked if I vould "be there for her"." Kurt rolled his eyes in disgust as he repeated the words that had crushed his heart just an hour or so earlier.  
  
"I dunno Kurt." Scott paused for a moment, he was trying his best to be supportive. "Just because Lance asked her doesn't mean that she said 'yes'. Besides, I thought I heard someone mention that he was going with Tabby."  
  
Kurt's mood visibly lifted at this statement.  
  
"Boom Boom?" He asked again making certain that he had heard the older boy correctly.  
  
"That's what I heard." Scott shrugged at this statement and stood up. "Anyways, you should really talk to her and straighten this out, before you do something you'll really regret." Scott gestured to Kurt's wounded arm and the blood soaked towel he had pressed on it.  
  
"Ja." He agreed.  
  
"But first, go see Hank about that arm." He nudged Kurt's injured arm with a mischievous look on his face.  
  
"Ouch!" Kurt glared up at Scott as his "brother" chuckled to himself and headed back for the showers. "Geez already, I'm going." He muttered as he massaged the sore limb.  
  
End Chapter 12 - 'Prom Dates'  
  
Author's Notes: Hey everyone! I bet you thought I forgot about this fic. I don't know why it has taken me so long to get this chapter up, but after more than a month it's finally here! And I already have the next chapter and a half written out, so read and enjoy while I type, and hopefully I will have the next chapter up soon. As always please REVIEW I would love to hear your comments!  
  
Also: I'm not sure why I decided to pair Rogue up with Bobby. I can't say that the X-Men Evo Bobby is all that interesting, but I like him more than the Evo Gambit and I wanted a more uncommon pairing so .... I hope you like it! 


	13. Miscommunications

Chapter 13 - 'Miscommunication'  
  
Kurt was already feeling better after talking with his 'big brother' Scott, and after having expelled some angry energy in the Danger Room. By the time he reached the door to the infirmary he had assured himself that once he talked with Kitty, all would be put right. However, he wasn't quite ready yet for that particular conversation and was caught off guard when he opened the door to find a very bored and a very sad looking Kitty Pryde sitting on one of the exam tables.  
  
She looked up as she heard him enter, her eyes were full of sorrow and Kurt felt immediately guilty knowing that he had caused it.  
  
"Hey." Was all he could manage to say.  
  
"Hi." Her voice was quiet and she immediately averted eye contact with him. "Danger Room session cut short?" She asked.  
  
Kurt looked at his watch and realized that he and Scott usually had the room booked until 4:30pm on their training days and it was just barely after 4pm.  
  
"I didn't really have my head in the game." He answered.  
  
Kitty looked up after his generic statement and noticed for the first time the crimson stained towel he held against his left bicep.  
  
"You're injured." She said, almost to herself, her voice full of concern. She hopped off the padded table and went to examine his arm. Her touch was soft as she put her hand over his which was holding the towel and gently moved it aside so she could inspect the damage.  
  
"It's pretty deep." She stated. "How'd it happen?"  
  
She kept her gaze fixed on the wound, attempting to tread lightly, knowing that he was probably still upset.  
  
"I vas being stupid." He answered honestly before continuing. "Normally I can be a little stupid and then 'port avay if I get myself into too much trouble."  
  
She silently nodded in understanding, feeling somewhat guilty for his inability to teleport as well.  
  
"Kurt," She looked up and met his eyes. "about what I said earlier, I -"  
  
She stopped as Dr. McCoy pushed the door open at the other end of the room startling the two teens. He walked in carrying several manilla folders while reading off his clipboard. He stopped to look up and noticed Kurt in the room.  
  
"Ah, Kurt. I was surprised when you did not arrive with young Katherine." He stated simply and then adjusted his glasses.  
  
"Sorry sir. I had a Danger Room session to make up."  
  
"Indeed." Replied the larger of the two blue men, knowing all too well how much the boy's schedule had been messed up in the last week.  
  
Upon his second glance, he noticed the gash on Kurt's arm.  
  
"Oh my, that's a good one." He said as he pulled Kurt under an examination light attached to one of the nearby tables. "This will need stitches."  
  
Kurt sighed in exasperation at the thought of even more stitches, he truly hated needles.  
  
As if reading his thoughts Hank added, "On the good side, it looks as though the first set is healing nicely."  
  
He peered through his reading glasses as he pushed aside the velvet like pelt on Kurt's forehead to examine the small length of stiff thread, just barely visible.  
  
Realizing that he had traded patients and left his former one just standing there, Hank turned his attention back over to Kitty.  
  
"You may leave if you wish Katherine. I want to run some more tests on the new samples I collected today and I'll let you know as soon as I find something."  
  
"Otherwise," He continued. "carry on as you have been, you already seem to be doing much better than you were yesterday. Whatever you found to help, I suggest you keep using it."  
  
Hanks comment caused the two teens to look at each other, both knowing all too well that Kitty looked better because she had been able to sleep last night thanks to Kurt.  
  
Kitty silently wished that Hank hadn't described her temporary cure as something she was "using". She noticed Kurt cringe as the older man had spoken the word.  
  
"So what have you found out about us doctor?" Kurt asked blandly.  
  
"Well, I'm still not absolutely certain, but my initial testing leads me to believe that your symptoms may very well just need to run their course."  
  
"You mean it'll just fix itself and go back to normal?" Kitty asked a little surprised.  
  
"Well, as I said, I'm still running tests, but I'm feeling confident that this will have just been a temporary issue. You're both already showing significant signs of improvement." Hank finished his answer and immediately turned his attention back to his new patient's shoulder.  
  
"Maybe by tomorrow you won't even need me as a tag along." Kurt commented, his voice was dry and cold and did not go unnoticed by either of the two listening.  
  
"What do you mean?" Kitty asked, not really wanting to have this conversation in front of Dr. McCoy, but not wanting to wait either.  
  
Apparently Hank could feel the tension building himself, because he stood as soon as Kitty asked her question.  
  
"Well." He cleared his throat. "I need to go and grab some supplies so we can get this sutured." He motioned to the wound. "And if you don't mind Kurt, I'm going to let Jean stitch your arm. She's always dying for more practice. Not to mention, she's still a little angry that she didn't get to do the ones on your forehead."  
  
"Zat's fine." Kurt answered nodding.  
  
Hank quickly left the lab so that the pair could finish their discussion in peace.  
  
"What did you mean by that Kurt?" Kitty asked again as soon as the doctor left the room. She was loosing her patience at figuring out what she had done to agitate her best friend.  
  
"I vas saying that maybe you vill have your phasing under control enough that I von't have to tag along to prom and watch you make googly eyes at Alvers all night." Kurt regretted everything he said as soon as it left his mouth. 'So much for talking it over with her first.' He thought to himself.  
  
"What?" Kitty was caught off guard by Kurt's comment and even more by his rudeness.  
  
"I can't really say that chaperoning you and that jerk Lance to prom vas really on the top of my list of things 'to do' this weekend." He added. Usually he was able to hide his dislike of Lance Alvers when he was around his best friend. But something about what she had said today was bringing out of him every angry feeling he had ever had about the guy.  
  
Suddenly realization sunk into Kitty of what Kurt was implying.  
  
"You're right, Lance is a jerk. That's why I turned him down. I'm not going with him." Kitty's words were cold, she had never seen this side of Kurt before and it was causing her to be defensive.  
  
"Good for you, finally realizing what an ass that guy can be." Kurt scoffed. He knew somewhere in the back of his mind that he should end this conversation before it got worse. He was obviously upset and should know better than to try to rationally talk about this subject. But for some reason he just couldn't stop the words from leaving his mouth.  
  
He would have never imagined that he was capable of being so disrespectful towards Kitty, but his heart had been crushed and somewhere inside him all he wanted to do at the moment was get back at her.  
  
"So who are you going with now? A different Brotherhood lackey?"  
  
Kitty had to resist the urge to slap him after those hurtful words escaped him. Was that really what he expected of her? That she would run off with any old jerk? Why didn't he understand that it was him she wanted to go with?  
  
Tears stung at her eyes out of both anger and hurt.  
  
"I guess I was hoping that you would make the best date." She snapped at him not able to ignore his appalling comments.  
  
Kurt looked up at her when she mentioned him. He caught her gaze for the first time since their argument started and he noticed the tears and pain he had caused.  
  
He instantly realized his error and tried to correct it, but before he could, she spoke again.  
  
"But I guess I hoped for too much." She said softly, a tear trickled down her freckled cheek.  
  
"Keety -" He tried to stop her, but before he could even say her name, she had phased through the floor, leaving him standing there with his shame.  
  
"Shall we then?" A kind voice spoke up.  
  
Kurt looked up at the doorway and saw Jean standing there with her tray of supplies all prepped to suture his arm.  
  
"How much did you hear?" Kurt asked, hanging his head.  
  
"Nothing actually." She replied calmly as she brought her tray over to the table beside Kurt, patting the bed, motioning for him to sit down.  
  
"Although I think I could probably guess what it was about, there were some pretty strong emotions seeping from this room." She added, knowing that Kurt understood that she wasn't intentionally eavesdropping, but just picking up projected emotions.  
  
Kurt sat and let Jean begin to clean out his wound as he thought over what had just happened. He felt horrible for assuming the worst of his best friend. He had so unfairly accused her of wanting him there for her own selfish reason of keeping her powers in check. When truthfully, she had been wanting him to be her date.  
  
"Oh Gott." he realized out loud. "I'm the jerk!"  
  
He hopped down from the table, causing Jean to telekinetically catch the tray his tail had knocked over in his haste.  
  
"Jean, I have to go find her! I have to talk to her!"  
  
"Oh no you don't." She commanded, using her teke to force him to sit back down.  
  
"This," She pointed to his arm. "comes first."  
  
"Besides, I'm sure that you could both use a few minutes to cool off." She added, directing a small glare in Kurt's direction.  
  
His heart sank, knowing that she was right. If he had just resisted talking with Kitty when he was as upset as he had been, he might have avoided the whole fight. Honestly, if he hadn't jumped to conclusions in the first place, he never would have been upset. He could only blame himself for all of the trouble he had caused today.  
  
He cringed as Jean brought the syringe containing the anesthetic to his arm, pricking his flesh in several spots. This time, he not only welcomed the pain and discomfort, but felt he deserved it a thousand times over.  
  
They sat in silence as the red headed doctor in training began to carefully sew his wound closed. After several minutes went by and Jean was tying off the last knot she softly spoke up.  
  
"Why don't you tell her how you feel?" It was part question, part suggestion.  
  
Kurt looked at her, preparing to deny her accusation. But he knew better than to fool Jean, who everyday was becoming a greater and greater telepath. And for some reason, he didn't want to try and deny it anymore.  
  
His silence, but refusal to contradict her suggestion urged her to continue.  
  
"There's no Lance or Amanda in the way now, why don't you use this opportunity?"  
  
Up until this afternoon, Kurt would have used Lance as an excuse. He and Kitty had been on again, off again for the last year or two. But after this recent argument, he knew Lance was no longer an "obstacle" he had to worry about. He thought it over for another moment, before answering.  
  
"She's mein best friend." He replied softly. "She's the only close friend I've ever had. I don't vant to mess with that."  
  
"I guess I can understand." She said, returning her tools to their tray and wrapping a bandage around his arm. "I felt that same way about Scott."  
  
Kurt looked her in the eye, understanding that her and Scott had been happily dating for a couple years now after many years of being 'just friends.' She smiled knowing that she had gotten her point across.  
  
"Thanks for the pep talk Jean, but vhenever I start to think about that, I always come to the conclusion that she deserves better than me. I mean, her parents have a hard enough time vith her being a mutant, how would they handle her dating someone who's not only a mutant, but who also happens to look like a demon." His voice was defeated as he gestured to himself.  
  
"Why don't you give her the chance to decide that for herself?" Jean mentioned lightly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You're a good person Kurt, the people who are important to you will see that."  
  
She could see Kurt mentally running all of this through his mind.  
  
"Can you tell me where she is?" He looked at her hopefully.  
  
Jean smiled and nodded, placing one hand on the side of her temple, preparing to telepathically locate Kitty.  
  
"She's in one of the subbasements, I can't get an exact location on her, she must be phasing." She paused, looking troubled. "Something's wrong, I sense a great deal of panic and fear." She looked in Kurt's eyes.  
  
"Ve're still tethered, I can 'port right to her!" Kurt realized, his face full of concern.  
  
"No! It's a blind 'port and she's phasing, you could end up in a wall!" Jean stated, grabbing a hold of his arm, hoping to stop him.  
  
"I have to." He explained simply.  
  
He shook free of her grasp and before she could speak again, he was displaced by a cloud of sulfurous smoke.  
  
End chapter 13 - 'Miscommunications'  
  
A/N: Hey y'all! I know I didn't say much at the end of the last chapter, but I was in such a rush to finally get it posted, that I forgot.  
Anyways... I just wanted to THANK all of you for reading and reviewing my humble little fic. I was so completely thrilled when my reviews surpassed a grand total of 100! And now, I do believe it's somewhere around 112! Thank you all and please continue to READ, REVIEW and ENJOY!! 


	14. Rescued

**chapter 14** - 'rescued'

Kurt's re-entry was rough, being a blind port there was no way for him to even calculate how far off the ground he needed to be, but at least he could be thankful that he was all in one piece. He reappeared about 3 feet from the ground and tried his best to gracefully reposition himself for a landing. With a few agile twists he was just able to land on all fours, wincing a little when his wounded arm took the majority of his weight.

One quick glance and he knew that he was in one of the mansion's deep underground storage rooms that were used to hold spare parts to the Institutes numerous technologically advanced vehicles. He quickly stood and scanned the room for Kitty, knowing that if he had ported here, then she had to be nearby.

"Keety!" He called out as he frantically searched for her in the cavernous like room.

He moved to the wall nearest him when he heard a familiar crackling sound. It was the sound that he associated with the shorting out of circuits whose connections had been broken due to an intangible object passing through. He stared in the direction of the noise, trying to pin-point just where beyond the wall she could be.

Suddenly a hand reached out right at his eye level, followed briefly by another arm and the panic stricken face of his best friend. She was deep below the surface and he just barely saw her icy blue eyes before they disappeared back into the dull metal surface.

"Keety!" Kurt screamed out as he tried to reach for her, only to have her fingers pass through his and then follow the rest of her down into the surface.

Kurt jumped to the wall, banging his fists against it in a futile hope that he somehow could pass into it as well.

He quickly tried to place in his mind what was beyond this room, only to conclude that it was at the perimeter of the house surrounded only by earth.

"Help!" He screamed out, not knowing what else he could do and praying that Jean had attempted to follow him.

"Keety, please. If you can hear me, concentrate on my voice." He was still shouting although his tone was now more of a plea.

"Bitte Gott, help mein friend." He quietly prayed.

What seemed like an eternity to him had passed when a fingertip just barely pushed it's way up through the floor.

"Keety! I'm right here! Please, you're almost here!"

Soon her hands and wrists were visible as she reached out for something to grab onto. Already kneeling above her, Kurt grabbed for her delicate hands which were thankfully solid and he helped to pull her up.

As soon as her face broke through, he could see her visibly gasp for air in large breathes. He continued to help pull her up until she had entirely emerged from the floor and almost collapsed on top of him.

"Oh Gott, Keety." He could almost cry he was so relieved.

She continued taking in sharp breathes as tears began to roll down her cheeks.

"Oh God, I thought I was going to suffocate." She clutched at Kurt and buried her face in his chest, crying into him as he wrapped his arms tightly around her.

In another heartbeat, Nightcrawler had teleported the pair to the infirmary, where Dr. 'Beast' McCoy, who had been alerted by Jean, ran to their sides and began checking Kitty's vitals.

Time went by in a blur as the doctor insisted that he run every possible test on Kitty to find out what was wrong. While Jean and Hank hovered around the exam table, drawing blood and hooking up machinery; the entire time Kurt was right by her side holding her hand.

After the two doctors were thoroughly satisfied that they had accomplished every possible test, they finally set up a room for Kitty to stay in for the night for observation.

Everything seemed to finally be calming down and and Kitty and Kurt found themselves alone in her room. Kitty was sitting cross-legged on top of her hospital bed while Kurt was in the chair beside it. An uneasiness came over the two of them as they both recalled the fight they had had the last time they had talked.

The room was quiet except for the swishing sound of Kurt's tail moving back and forth and softly brushing along the floor.

"Keety." He spoke up and she turned to face him. "I am so sorry, I vas being a royal ass earlier, this vas all my fault." He paused and looked away, unable to meet her eyes.

"No." She replied. "It was my fault too. I've been thinking about how I asked you earlier and it's no wonder that you took it the wrong way. I'm sorry too Kurt."

He looked up at her, happily surprised by her acceptance of his apology.

"Kurt," She added. "thank you for coming after me. I know that it was risky for you to make a blind port... but I'm glad that you did, you saved my life." She reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled, not knowing what she could possibly do to show her gratitude.

At her touch, he looked up and met her pale blue eyes. He knew right then that he would do it again if needed, he would do anything for her. "Sie sind willkommen"

They sat in silence again, both content in the fact that they had resolved their fight. But, they were not alone for long, shortly there after word of Kitty's scare that afternoon had made it's way around the mansion and any of the students came down a few at a time to check in on their friend.

Kurt occupied his chair in the corner of the small room and sat back to watch as the swarm of worried friends came by to visit his Katzchen. "My Katzchen?" he thought to himself, "when did I start to think of her as mine?"

Later in the evening the visitors began to dwindle and Rogue took the opportunity to bring a tray of dinner to her hungry friend. Rogue set the tray on the small hospital bed for Kitty and pulled up one of the empty chairs next to her brother. She was followed by Bobby who came in carrying another two trays full of food who passed them off to Kurt.

"Danke!" Kurt exclaimed as he gratefully accepted the meal and began to dig in.

"We figured you two would be hungry." Bobby responded to the pair's words of thanks as they happily ate.

Rogue lowered her voice and whispered casually into her brother's ear, "Ah figured you'd sooner die of starvation then leave her side."

Kurt looked up at her with wide eyes and a bit of food on his face as he obviously swallowed a rather large mouthful.

Rogue merely smiled in a sly sort of way.

The four sat and talked while Kurt and Kitty finished their meals. Eventually the conversation shifted to prom and Kurt shyly avoided saying anything at all. he was quite relieved in fact, when Dr. McCoy entered the room causing their conversation to end long before it could go anywhere.

"It is getting to be quite late and I think that we should allow Miss Pryde to get a good nights sleep." He calmly announced from the doorway.

"Alright." Rogue answered solemnly, having enjoyed her time chatting with her roommate.

Rogue, Bobby and Kurt stood and began to collect all of the emptied dishes back onto the trays as Hank studied the various monitors connected to Kitty.

"Kurt, if you could please stay behind." Hank looked back over his shoulder at the young teen.

Kurt glanced at Kitty, who gave him a shrug, indicating that she didn't know what it was about. Rogue too, looked a bit confused and disappointed as to why he got to stay and she didn't.

"Well, goodnight." Bobby said, taking Rogue's gloved hand and leading her towards the doorway.

"Rest up girl," the white streaked goth called back to Kitty. "Don't think ah'm gonna let you miss yer senior prom!"

"I'm highly confident that it will no longer be an issue." Beast assured her as he closed the door behind the pair, turning his attention back to Kurt who was now leaning against the end of the bed.

"What have you found out?" Kitty perked up at Hank's positive response.

"I should have some more conclusive evidence by morning, but I don't see any reason why you would have to miss your dance." He stated first, knowing that Kitty would be glad to hear that.

"That being said," he continued, "I would like to keep you here for the night for observation."

Kitty nodded.

"And as long as Kurt here doesn't protest, I would like him to stay nearby to assure you get a good night's rest."

Kitty could feel herself blushing, thinking back to the previous night she had spent in Kurt's bed. She felt her pulse quicken at the memory and a little bit of nervousness about whether or not the doctor knew about their sleeping arrangements.

Seemingly oblivious to her thought, Hank gestured to the neighboring hospital bed that sat lined up near the one Kitty occupied in the small cramped room.

She also noticed the blush on Kurt's cheeks as he went to sit on the other bed, having obviously had the same thought as herself.

So, I take it zhat you still have the same prognosis? Zhat, I have to be near Keety for her powers to stay in check?" Kurt asked as he hopped up onto the bed.

"I am still looking into that for the time being, but we may as well stick with what works for now." The larger blue man stated. "I think I'm on to something and hopefully I will have a better idea by morning."

"Well then," He stated to himself as he appeared to have finished whatever it was he had been monitoring. "Goodnight you two, get some rest. I will be next door in the lab if you need anything."

After he left the room, once again an uncomfortable silence washed over the two friends as they considered everything that had happened over the last few days.

"Thanks for staying with me," Kitty spoke up. "I know it must be totally annoying." She spun around on her bed, repositioning herself so that she faced Kurt on the other.

"Hey, if it keeps you safe, I don't mind." He answered, smiling his brightest, hoping to soothe his concerned friend.

They both sat quietly now on the edge of their respective beds, feet dangling over the side. There had been only enough room between the two beds to just barely walk between, so their knees were almost bumping into each other.

Kitty took in her friend's features as best she could in the dimly lit room. They had earlier cleared all misunderstandings concerning the previous argument, but he still appeared troubled. She hated seeing him like this, and felt the strong need to express her feelings towards him.

"Kurt," She paused before bridging the gap between them and placing her hand on top of his. She smiled inwardly when he did not flinch from her touch.

"I want to make sure that you understand what you mean to me." She continued softly, and his glowing pale eyes raised to look into hers.

Kurt's insides froze at this statement. He knew that he had shown too much over these last few days as he strived to protect her. He had never intended for her to know just how much he cared about her, he was willing to repress his feelings and be content as merely friends. He just wasn't willing to actually hear her say this to him. If things were left unspoken, then he could leave the rest to his imagination and just assume that she carried an unreciprocated love for him as well, but as soon as she told him the "we're just friends" speech out loud, he knew that his false hopes would crumble. He tried desperately to think of something to say to keep her from uttering those very words.

"Keety..." He muttered, hoping the rest would come to him soon.

"Kurt let me finish, I wanted to tell you...I wanted to tell you that I - "

"Hey half-pint." Wolverine grunted as he unexpectedly entered the room, startling the two teens to jump back, and effectively cutting off whatever Kitty had been about to say.

"Elf." Logan added as a greeting upon spotting the blue teen on the bed next to Kitty's.

"Hi Mr. Logan, wha... what's up?" Kitty tried and failed to act casually.

"Just thought I would come by to check on you is all." He glanced about the room before adding, "Does McCoy have blue staying in here too?" He gestured over his shoulder towards Kurt.

"Yeah, just for precautions." She answered simply, a slight warmth in her cheeks.

"Well, you get better kid, I wouldn't want you to miss your big dance." The man known for good reason as "The Wolverine" said in his rare fatherly voice.

"Thanks." Kitty replied, smiling at his soft side.

"Get some sleep you two." He finished, but not before awkwardly stepping between the two beds just enough so that he could pull the curtain, separating them.

As he left the room, he flicked the switch off on the last few remaining lights in the room. Kurt made his way under the covers and anxiously listened for the door to close and Wolverine's steps to disappear down the hall.

He still wasn't sure what Kitty had been trying to tell him before she had been interrupted, but he was still fairly certain that he didn't want to hear it.

"I don't vant to go to prom, Keety." Kurt spoke quickly, his words spilling from his mouth in an attempt to stop her from finishing.

"oh." The noise left her mouth as hardly a word. A rare moment of finding herself speechless.

"Not because of you." He added, after her almost silent response.

"Then why?" She tried to sound indifferent as she watched his faint silhouette through the curtains

"I... I just don't want to deal with it." He stated. "Everyvone knows vhat I really look like, yet I still hid behind this stupid disguise. I am tired of pretending to be somezhing that I am not. I just vant to be done with school and everything else."

He felt a weight lift off of his shoulders as he finally understood the reasons himself. He also managed to avoid adding, that if he was going to attend a dance with Kitty, he didn't want it to be because her powers weren't working. Never did he think that she might just want to go with him, even before this whole fiasco with their powers.

"Oh, ok, I can understand that."

She took in his answer, understanding how he felt, but not being able to help, but feel a bit disappointed. She reluctantly climbed under the covers, and switched off the small bedside lamp next to her.

Darkness swept through the room emphasizing the silence that hung off her last words.

"I mean, unless you need me to be there." he spoke quietly and kindly from behind the curtain.

"No. I'm sure that I'll be fine." She said simply, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.

She laid there for a few minutes and realized that Kurt must have already began to drift off as she could no longer see the faint glow of his eyes through the curtain. She blinked back more tears and rolled over, willing sleep to take her.

**End chapter 14** - 'rescued'

Author's note: I know, I know. How dare I show my face around here. But seriously, I have never truly forgotten this fic and I am determined to finish it, even if there's no one left to read it.


	15. Awakenings

chapter 15 - 'awakenings'

A shaft of light landed across Kitty's face, rousing her from her peaceful slumber. She blinked her eyes open as fuzzy blue fingers came into her focus, softly holding her hand. She smiled inwardly, wondering when Kurt had moved to her bedside.

"Mmm, good morning." She murmured softly as she began to fully wake up.

"Good morning Katherine. I trust that you're feeling better?" A heavy voice replied.

"Oh!...Yes!" Kitty answered as she suddenly realized that it hadn't been Kurt at all, but Dr. McCoy at her bedside.

"I was just unhooking your IV." He stated, as a response to the puzzled look directed towards his grip on her hand. "I'm sorry if I woke you."

"Oh, that's all right." She struggled against her tangled sheets to sit up. "Where's Kurt?" She asked, noticing his empty bed.

"Well, seeing as how you're awake now, I have some rather good news for you." Was Hank's odd response to her question.

"all right..." Her eyebrow raised in confusion.

"I think that I have discovered what has been happening to you."

"Really? Can you fix it?" Kitty asked.

"Well, yes and no, let me explain."

She was waiting for him to pull out his charts or perhaps a diagram of sorts, as the doctor often did when he was explaining his findings. Instead he simply pulled up a chair and sat down. This, for whatever reason, seemed infinitely worse.

"After all of your testes were run, I have concluded that there is absolutely nothing wrong with you." He paused, knowing that the young teen was going to object.

"How can that be?" She asked quizzically.

"Trust me when I say that that I was quite perplexed myself when I first came to this conclusion. However, it seems that nothing negative happened to you that day on the mountain. It merely triggered the further development of your mutation."

He took a moment for her to allow the information to sink in.

"It seems as though this progression is something that would have happened naturally on it's own. The events of that day just caused it to happen sooner." He concluded.

"You mean to tell me that it's 'natural'," she used her fingers to make quotations in the air. "for my powers to go haywire?"

"I mean, I can't control them anymore, if it hadn't been for Kurt yesterday, I'm not sure that I would have been able to solidify."

She was actually becoming a little angry at the doctors audacity to suggest that there was nothing wrong with her.

"Now Katherine." He held up a hand to keep her from continuing. "I'm still not certain what this evolution of your powers will equate to, but I assure you that your temporary loss of control is merely a side-effect of it happening so rapidly."

Kitty sat and contemplated this for a moment.

"But how do you explain the connection between me and Kurt?"

"Well, while it seems that nothing negative happened to your own mutation, Kurt's was thrown off a bit. And while his is naturally going back to normal on it's own, I think that his connection to you helped both of you gain control. I also believe that much of it was psychological."

"How do you mean?"

"He gave you something to focus on until you were able to grasp your own control over your phasing abilities."

"Are we sure about this?" She asked, not really feeling very confident that she could control her powers on her own.

"Soon after you fell asleep last night, I asked Kurt to return to his room so that I could see how you did throughout the night. It seems that everything was normal."

"Oh." Kitty responded, actually feeling a little disappointment. There was something reassuring about knowing that Kurt could help her solve her problems. Now, it seemed, she would have to do it all on her own.

"Cheer up!" Beast chimed in. "You are getting better control over your abilities everyday. And while I wouldn't advise using your powers tonight, it will be perfectly safe for you to attend your dance. After that, we will continue to track your progress until all of your side-effects have passed."

"Oh, good." She answered unenthusiastically.

The doctor smiled and stood to leave.

"You are free to leave, my dear. From what I hear, you teenage women need plenty of time to prepare for these dances." The chuckles from his gentle teasing could be heard as he left the room.

"Sure, I get to go, but not quite like I had hoped." She muttered to herself as she climbed out of the hospital bed to go and shower.

After slipping on the clean clothes that Rogue had left for her in the med lab, Kitty made her way back to the room that they both shared. As she walked down the hall, she absently patted her wet hair with a towel, while balancing an armload of her discarded clothes from the day before. Arriving at her door, she abandoned the towel atop her head so as to free up a hand to turn the knob.

"I hate not using my powers." She grumbled to herself, recalling that she would normally just phase through the offending object.

"Hey Kit!" Rogue called out to her roommate as she entered. "We were just wondering if you were ever going to wake up." She smirked.

Kitty pulled down the towel, uncovering her eyes, so that she could get an unobstructed view of who the other half of Rogue's "we" was.

The figure of her best friend inhumanly balanced, perching on the footboard of Rogue's bed, came as no surprise to her.

"Hey Keety." He shyly smiled at her. "How are you feeling?"

"Oh, you know... super." She answered lamely.

"That's it?" Rogue sounded exasperated. "You can go ta prom! Fuzzy here told me that the doc sent him out last night and it looks like you did fine without 'em!" Rogue exclaimed in a very uncommon, giddy sort of way. Kitty was beginning to think that she preferred the dark, quiet version of her roommate better.

"That does mean that you get to go ta prom now, right?" Her eyebrows raised in hopefulness.

After having Kurt turn her down for the second time the evening before, she was actually starting to have second thoughts about going at all. In fact, by the time that she left the med lab she had pretty much decided that the dress she had bought months before was just going to have to stay in it's bag indefinitely.

But for some reason, seeing her goth roommate; the girl who never got excited about anything, practically squealing with joy over the two of them going together was slowly changing her mind.

"Um, of course it does." Kitty answered as best she could to sound excited for her friend.

"Good thing too, 'cause you talked me inta this in the first place and I wasn't about ta go without you there." Rogue shifted back into her usual sober demeanor, as if she suddenly realized how excited she must have sounded.

"Well then, we better get started!" Kitty did her best to fake her usual perkiness.

"Ya hear that fuzzball? Scram!" Rogue gestured playfully toward the door with a "scooting" motion.

"Vas?" Kurt questioned, hopping down from the footboard. "But it is barely even noon!"

"Exactly Fuzzy, we've already wasted half of the day. Now, scoot."

Kurt made an emphasis on rolling his eyes before departing the girls' room. He was glad that Kitty seemed to be taking everything all right. He had been afraid that she would be upset about the night before. He knew that part of her change of behavior was purely a show for Rogue's part. He had to admit that he was just as excited as Kitty was over his "sister" taking an outward interest in something.

Just as the two girls were shutting the door to the room behind him, he overheard Rogue.

"Whatever happened to that mysterious guy you were going ta go with?"

Kurt's ears perked up. What guy? Were they referring to him?

"Oh."

He could hear the hesitation in Kitty's voice.

"Turns out, he didn't want to go."

Kurt stopped. She had been talking about him and he could hear the disappointment in her voice.

Shoulders sagged, he made his way down to the common room.

After having wasted away an hour or two of his afternoon watching TV with Bobby, Kurt could hardly stand to sit still any longer. Over the last couple of days he and Kitty had been practically joined at the hip. He felt like he was going through some kind of withdrawal without her around.

Ever since Dr. McCoy had sent him back to his room the evening before, he had only seen his friend a few short minutes before being forced out of the room by his own sister.

He was also feeling troubled over how disappointed Kitty had sounded about him not wanting to go to prom. He had thought that now she was safe to go, nothing would be able to hold back her excitement. Sadly, it seemed almost as if Rogue was the more excited one. And that could never be a good sign.

He sighed to himself as he watched Bobby, yet again, click to another channel right in the middle of a program.

"Ach!" He sat upright in frustration. "Don't you vant to actually watch something!"

"What do you mean?" Bobby asked in a daze as he continued to click past each channel, never stopping more than a few seconds.

"Don't you need to get dressed or something?" Kurt asked in an attempt to get the TV to himself.

"Huh? What time is it?"

Kurt looked down at his holowatch.

"Three twenty-seven."

"Nah." Bobby answered. "Besides the tux shop doesn't close until five."

Kurt glanced questioningly at his friend.

"You have not even picked up your tux yet?"

"Relax Fuzzy, I've got plenty of time."

Bobby stretched his remote-free hand behind his head before laying back into the couch and propping his feet up onto the coffee table.

Kurt dropped his head into his hands to express his defeat. He heard heavy steps entering the room and Bobby's feet quickly leaving the coffee table before a gruff voice spoke.

"Elf. Popsicle. Either of you going to this dance?"

Kurt lifted his head to look at Logan and pointed to Bobby beside him.

"Humpf" Logan cleared his throat. "Great, than Elf, you're with me."

"Vas do you mean?" Kurt asked suspiciously. He remembered the deadly look he had received from the older man after he heard about the shower incident, and then the look he had gotten over staying in Kitty's hospital room the night before. Kurt was still a little bit concerned that the older man had not yet offered up some kind of punishment, and he was getting more and more worried that it would involve those claws of his.

"I just got back from taking the younger students on their first X-Jet ride."

Robert held his hand over his stomach remembering the queasiness of his first ride. "Ewwww."

"So, since you are the only one around here who isn't primping for a dance, you're gonna help me clean the jet."

"Vas!" The young German questioned. This was most definitely the beginning of his punished.

"Hahahaha!" Bobby began to laugh. "You got puke duty!"

"Ya know Drake, you don't look all that busy to me." Logan drawled out in his lowest voice.

"Look at the time! I've got to go pick up my tux!" He jumped up from the couch. "See you guys later!"

Watching the teen practically run from the room, Logan commented mostly to himself, "ya know, that's the fastest I've ever seen that kid move."

He turned back to Kurt. "C'mon Elf, I'll meet you in the hangar."

"I vill be right there."

Never being one to do anything half-assed, a couple hours and a few mop buckets later, Logan had decided that the outside of the jet should sparkle as much as the inside now did.

Kurt was sitting on one of the jet's wings rubbing in the layer of wax that he had just applied, while Logan worked on the underside of the wing, just below him.

Logan cleared his throat and Kurt had the sinking feeling that the older man was just getting ready to start questioning him. So far, they had been working in relative silence, and it was beginning to make Kurt nervous. He had been expecting to receive some kind of threat from his teacher and self appointed protector of Kitty, and had just assumed that the hours of silent work were just the beginning of a long and painful punishment. He knew this talk was not going to be a good one.

"So, Elf... what's going on with you and Half-pint?" Logan finally grunted out.

Silence echoed through the large hangar as Kurt took a moment to process Logan's blunt statement.

"Nothing! I swear nothing happened!" Once he started to answer he couldn't help the panic rising in his chest and the need to defend himself. "It vas just an accident. My teleporting vas off and I ended up in zhe wrong bathroom -"

"Whoah!" Logan abruptly cut off his verbal purge. "I don't really want to know about any of that. Frankly, I'm just glad it's YOU she hangs out with now and not that Alvers kid. You, I can trust."

This last statement caught Kurt off guard. He didn't know if his surprise had more to do with Logan trusting him or the fact that he categorized his relationship with Kitty as a similar one to Lance's.

"Danke." Was his simple reply.

"You're welcome kid. I was just wondering why you weren't going to the dance with her, is all."

Kurt was quiet for another moment while he continued to rub the wax in small circles.

"It's complicated." Was his response and Wolverine must have understood it as a sign that he was done discussing it, because they went back to finishing their job in silence.

Leaving behind a pristine X-Jet, Logan and Kurt made their way back into the living room to find Bobby in his tuxedo being teased mercilessly by several Jamies.

A couple of them were pointing and laughing while another few seemed to be impersonating penguins.

"Looking sharp, Popsicle." Logan grunted from his spot, leaning up against the door frame.

Kurt stood beside him and gave a "thumbs up".

"Thanks." Bobby answered as he checked his watch.

"Vhere is Evan?" Kurt asked, not seeing the other senior.

"He already left to pick up his date. We'll be going as soon as the WOMEN get down here!" He hollered out the last part obviously trying to get his own date's attention.

Bobby looked up the stairs, ready to yell out again, when he was stopped dead in his tracks.

"Laugh all you want Jamie." He muttered.

The others turned to look up and see Rogue standing at the top of the staircase with a rare smile of excitement on her face.

Her hair had been swept up and pulled into several complicated looking knots, allowing her bleached white bangs to hang down, beautifully framing her face. Kitty must have assisted with her makeup, as it was less goth-like than usual. Her long black evening gown was a sharp contrast to her fair skin, but seemed only to make her glow. For once, wearing her black satin full length opera gloves was actually a part of her attire and not just a necessity.

She lifted the front of her dress, so as not to trip and gracefully descended the stairs towards the gawking men.

"Y'all are starting ta creep me out." She smiled as she got to the bottom.

"Rogue, you look amazing." Bobby finally managed to stutter. "Absolutely stunning."

She blushed as she complimented him back. "Thanks, ya don't look so bad yourself."

"Rogue,"

She turned towards her brother and smiled. "You really do look vonderbar. I'm glad to see you so happy."

"Sorry. I couldn't find my necklace." The crowd all turned back towards the staircase at hearing Kitty's apology for being late.

"Er... but I found it now." She added, shifting her gaze away from the others as she, just as Rogue had, lifted the front of her dress and gracefully descended the stairs.

The moment Kurt had turned and saw Kitty standing there in her dress, he felt his breath catch in his throat. At that moment he was certain that he would no longer be able to fool himself into seeing her as "only a friend" ever again. He was also rather certain, that his heart had made up that decision long ago.

Her pale pink dress, billowed around her like waves and a few curly tendrils danced along her shoulders as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

Bobby whistled. "You look great Kitty!"

Rogue gave him a look and he quickly added, "But not as good as Rogue of course."

"Thanks Bobby, you look great too." She smiled, and then turned, momentarily caught off guard when she spotted Logan and Kurt in the doorway watching them.

"Hi." Kitty said awkwardly.

Logan smiled at the young girl and elbowed the kid with his mouth hanging open beside him. Kurt seemed to be jolted out of his daze, rubbing his ribs where Logan's adamantium laced elbow had collided with them.

"Oh, hi Keety." He stammered after a moment, not moving from his place. "I like your dress."

"Oh," Kitty looked down at the pink folds of glittery fabric. "thanks."

"I think what he means is that you look beautiful, darling." Logan's gruff voice filled the awkwardness.

"You kids better get going. I don't think that limo is going to wait all night." He gestured towards the door.

"Limo?" Bobby asked, arching an eyebrow.

"A gift from the professor." He grunted.

A group of collected cheers erupted.

"Aww man, no fair!" Jamie exclaimed, while a few of them ran to the window to see.

Rogue handed Kitty her evening bag. "C'mon gal, let's roll!"

Kitty glanced over in Kurt's direction and gave a shy little wave. "See you later."

"Bye Keety, have fun."

end chapter 15 - "awakenings"

Special thanks to everybody that came back, or stuck around, or just found this for the first time and was kind enough to read and review! Thanks so much! I promise I will finish this, hopefully by the end of summer. I still have a few more things that need to happen, so there's still a bit more to add. I've been really psyched about the new movie and season 3 of Xmen Evo coming out to DVD, so I've been more inspired than usual. :) Hopefully I will get it all cranked out while my muse is still around!


	16. Cinderella at Midnight

chapter 16 - 'Cinderella at Midnight'

After seeing the limo off, Logan made his way back into the living area to find ten or so Jamies complaining to each other about the unfairness of not getting to ride in a limo too. In the middle of the group sat a defeated looking Kurt. He had collapsed on the couch with his head laying back on the pillows, staring up at the ceiling high above.

"I don't want to hear any more complaining." Wolverine's gruff voice startled the Jamie nearest him. "Nor does anyone else for that matter. Now, go find something to do, or I'll find something for you."

All Jamies instantly shut their mouths, recognizing a threat when they heard one and began to one by one, siphon out of the large room.

Logan slumped down onto the other end of the couch. He heard Kurt mumble a soft 'thanks'.

"It was more fer MY sanity kid." He replied with a hint of a chuckle.

Both men sat for a moment in the new found silence, relaxing after their long afternoon of cleaning. Kurt was sure that Logan probably didn't even feel the least bit tired. Thanks to his own metabolism, his energy was still high, but he was definitely going to need a large snack to refuel.

Truthfully, Kurt had welcomed the distraction and knew that the older man had set it up that way on purpose. He wasn't entirely sure if his full intent had been to question him over what had been so obviously troubling him or if it had been to simply keep his mind off of it.

"You know." Kurt spoke up. "I vas thanking you for earlier." He knew that he didn't have to be any more specific.

"Yer welcome kid. Care to share what's got you so blue? No pun intended of course."

Kurt let out a small, "Harumph." but did not respond to the older man's questioning.

"I don't mean to pry kid, but what happened 'tween you and Half-pint? You two have been side by side all week, I would have thought that you'd have gone with her."

"She doesn't need me there." Kurt answered quietly, his focus never leaving the ceiling.

"Need you? No, I think you're right, she's got her powers all under control." Logan paused. "But I'd say that she definitely WANTS you there."

Kurt sat up and turned to look Logan in the eye questioningly.

"Look Elf, if you don't believe me, I ain't wasting my breath on you."

Silently Kurt nodded.

"You could still go, you know." Logan added.

He then gestured through the open door at the other end of the room, where they could clearly see a human pyramid of Jamies toppling over.

He turned back to Kurt, "Unless, you would rather stay and hang out with us." The sarcasm in his voice was not lost.

"Gee, these options..." Kurt smiled his first genuine smile Logan had seen in many days.

"Get outta here!" Logan made to push at Kurt, before he jumped up off the couch.

"I gotta go find somzhing to vear!" The young man was suddenly nervous with anticipation.

"You might wanna grab a quick shower too kid." Logan added, still feeling the need to take one himself after cleaning the jet.

"Oh Scheisse! You're right! And I've got to get dried off! And I have to eat somezhing before I starve!"

"And here I was giving the GIRLS a hard time about primping!" Logan ignored the young mans cursing and chose instead to antagonize him.

Kurt turned to glare at Logan.

"Relax Elf, they were going to dinner first, you've got plenty of time. Go shower and I'll find something for you to eat on the ride out there."

"Danke Herr Logan." Kurt stopped to look at his mentor, who up until a few hours ago, he had been sure was still wanting to dice him into little bits.

"Oh you owe me for this Fuzzball."

Kurt soon found himself being dropped off outside of the Bayville high school gymnasium, where prom was taking place.

"This is the point where you get out of the car and go into the dance, ya know."

Kurt looked over at Scott who had come home moments earlier and offered to give Kurt a lift to town so he could ride back in the limo with the others. He was pretty sure that his "big brother" was still feeling guilty for yelling at him so many days before and was still trying to make up for it.

"Do you zhink that I am doing the right thing?" He asked him.

"Kurt, if you're worried whether or not Kitty will be happy to see you - don't be!" Scott laughed, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Do you think it wise for ME to be here?" Kurt's question was full of honesty and fear and Scott didn't need him to clarify what he had meant by it. For the last few years, he himself had encouraged Kurt not to attend parties or dances, in fear that someone bumping into him, feeling his fur or his tail, would realize that he was a mutant. Now, of course, things were different. It was just that, it was the way Kurt had been raised to think all of his life and this last week had not exactly been the easiest for him.

"Kurt, you can't spend your whole life hiding. These kids know who you are, whether or not they really accept it. I'd say that it's as good as any place to start."

Kurt nodded in understanding and smiled at his friend. "Thanks Scott."

"Sure thing, have fun."

Kurt stepped out of the car and straightened his new charcoal suit. He silently thanked his foster mother for sending it to him well before graduation. He looked down at his flesh colored wrist, double checking that his holowatch was on and operational, took one big breath and made his way into the school.

The front entrance was filled with a handful of odd couples and groups of giggling girls making their way to the bathroom. He glanced around nervously, not really wanting anyone to notice him and at the same time wondering how he was going to find Kitty in the large music filled gymnasium beyond.

"Kurt?"

The voice startled him. He turned to see who it was and met a familiar face of one of his classmates.

"Janie?" As soon as he met her eyes, he remembered how he had ever so politely turned down her invitation to prom because he "wasn't going to go." He could feel the guilt swelling in his chest.

"Hey Janie... I... ah..." His goal was to offer some kind of an excuse, but instead he just found himself mumbling.

"It's okay Kurt, I came with someone else."

That information only helped a small amount in making him feel better, but the smile on her face told him that he shouldn't worry anymore.

"Sorry, this vas sort of last minute." He exhaled.

"You're looking for Pryde right?" Janie asked with a glint in her eyes.

Surprised, Kurt nodded.

"Well, you're in luck my friend. I just saw her go out into the courtyard." Janie gestured with a smile towards the double doors at the other end of the large lobby.

Kurt's face lit up with a smile and he turned to Janie and thanked her before heading towards the door.

He stopped just outside and peeked through the glass. He found her standing alone, seemingly lost in her thoughts as she stared up at the starry night sky. The moonlight played off the sequins in her dress, and he smiled at the sight if her.

Masterfully, Kurt quietly snuck up behind her. With his holowatch on, his ability to blend into shadows was gone, but he still had his soft paw-like feet and agility on his side. Before she even had a chance to realize that someone was there, he had reached from behind her and placed a gentle hand over her eyes. His other hand on her shoulder, keeping her in place as he quietly whispered into her ear, "guess who?"

Kitty started when she felt the presence behind her, but relaxed as soon as she heard his voice. She smiled to herself at his posed question. She wasn't sure what gave him away fastest, his two sueded fingers or his thick German accent.

"I'm glad that you're here." She replied quietly, without moving from his grasp.

He dropped his hands back down by his side, releasing her.

"Does zhat mean you forgive me?"

"That depends..."

She turned around to look him in the face and he raised one eyebrow questioningly.

"You are going to go IN there and dance with me, right?"

He nodded as a smile crossed his face.

"Then you're forgiven."

Kitty stood on her toes so that she could give him a proper hug. She stepped back to get a better look at him.

"Wow Fuzzy, nice suit. I thought that it was part of your hologram at first."

"Danke." He smiled, feeling a little self conscious. "My foster-mother sent it to me for graduation, and seeing as how you can't really rent them vith an opening for a tail, I'm very grateful."

Kitty smiled. "Yeah, I bet."

"I know I didn't actually say it before, but I wanted to tell you how amazing you look, mein Katzchen." Kurt said genuinely as he looked her in the eye.

"Thank you." She smiled.

She took his hand and began to lead him into the crowded gymnasium. The music was loud and Kurt couldn't wait any longer, he had to explain himself, and he knew now was his chance. He stopped dead in his tracks just at the edge of the crowd, causing Kitty to stop as well, when she realized that he wasn't going to allow her to guide him any further. He pulled her closer so that she could hear him over the music.

"Look, Kitty. I am so sorry about all of the misunderstandings these last few days. All of the reasons I didn't want to come here tonight had nothing to do with you. I just wanted to be able to go out as me, no hologram, just me. You know, be normal for once. And I vas willing to skip tonight all together if I couldn't have that." He looked into her eyes and saw comprehension.

"It's okay Kurt, I understand"

"No, it's not okay."

Kitty looked up at him questioningly.

"All the reasons not to come tonight vere selfish reasons. The reasons that mattered, that changed my mind, were about you. You vanted to be here," He looked into her eyes. "And as long as I'm with you, I'm happy. That's all that really matters."

The biggest smile that Kurt had seen on Kitty's face in weeks appeared and she pulled him into a tight hug.

"Kurt, why does it like, still amaze me how sweet you are?"

He just smiled back.

She released him from the hug and stood back to look at him, her hands on her hip and her head cocked to one side. Her pose screamed, 'I'm up to something'.

"You know Fuzzy...I don't think that we should do only what I want tonight."

"Vas do you mean?" He asked a little worried about what she had up her sleeve.

She reached out and took his hand, lifting up his wrist and pushing his sleeve back enough to expose his watch.

"You said that you wanted to be able to come as yourself right?" She smiled slyly.

"No Keety, eet's all right. I don't vant you to spend your prom night being stared at because you are zhe only one with a fuzzy blue date."

"Don't forget handsome." She added. He lifted an eyebrow in question.

"My HANDSOME, fuzzy blue date. And really, I don't mind."

Before he could protest again, she switched off his hologram. Like Cinderella at midnight, his disguise for the ball vanished. He no longer resembled the handsome prince that he wished he could be, but instead the monster that was usually slayed in such fairy tales.

Kurt froze in his place, silently praying that no one would notice him. he knew that it was a foolish thing to wish for, as he could already feel the eyes on him.

"Dance with me Kurt."

He looked at his best friend standing in front of him, completely non-phased by his appearance. She took one of his three digit hands in hers and placed the other at her waist.

It was a slow song and Kitty began rocking along to the soft beat, pulling Kurt in sync with her. He dipped his head down close to her ear, muttering a feeble, "I'm sorry."

She looked up at him, coaxing him to lift his gaze to hers. "Don't apologize for other people Kurt."

"Eets just that they are staring at us."

"Yeah, well then let's at least give them a good reason to stare." She mentioned with a sparkle in her eye.

Kurt's brows were knitted together in confusion.

"Vas do you mean 'good reason..."?

Bur before he could finish his question. Kitty had lifted herself up on her tip toes and and pressed her lips gently to his. Kurt was stunned, but only for a second. In an instant his eyes closed, his posture softened and he wrapped his arms around her delicate shoulders.

At that moment Kurt didn't care if the entire school was starring at him. All of his uneasiness was put to rest.

Kitty began to deepened the kiss, but he could tell that she was letting him take the lead, knowing that he worried about his inconveniently sharp canines.

Kurt had only ever kissed Amanda before, but he had never thought that it could be such a wonderful sensation. He knew that he should have realized that everything would be perfect and comfortable with Kitty.

Her hands slid up his back and into his hair as she glided her tongue along his lower lip. He granted her access as he pulled her tight against his chest. Time seemed to stand still as all other distractions around them seemed to disappear. It was as if that moment in time was intended for just the two of them.

Soon they found themselves pulling apart, both a little winded. They heard some hooting and catcalling from the nearby students around them.

"I know that you weren't wanting to draw attention to yourself, but I've been really wanting to do that!" She smiled up at him.

"Yeah?" Kurt couldn't help the ridiculous grin on his face as he concentrated his attention on Kitty's swollen red lips.

"Well it wasn't JUST to cause a scene" She winked. "When I asked you to come here with me, it was because I wanted to be your date. That's it, nothing else. Got it?"

She grabbed his hands and squeezed them reassuringly.

"I'm still not so sure that I'm clear on that. Maybe you should try again." Kurt's dopey smiled quickly turned into a mischievous grin.

"I'll try my best!" She replied before pulling his face down to hers for another kiss.

end chapter 16 - 'Cinderella at Midnight'

A.N. Hello my lovely readers! It's about time that these two finally got there act together:) And don't worry there's still some more to come, they may have gotten through the first half of prom without a hitch, but the night is young and they still have to make it to graduation!

Please let me know what you thought about this cahpter! I sorta suck at the lovey dovey scenes. :P


	17. Too Perfect to Last

chapter 17 - 'too perfect to last'

Kurt Wagner had spent most of his childhood as a loner. With his "unique" physical attributes he had never truly felt that he had ever fit in. Even his own mother had left him stranded when he was just a baby. This knowledge was hard to except, knowing that even the one that had given birth to him could not stand to keep him around. On the bright side, he could not have asked for kinder, more loving adoptive parents than the ones who had found him and raised them as their own.

And as an acrobat in his family's circus, he felt for the first time that he truly belonged. People came from all over Germany to see the amazing Nightcrawler, the acrobatic wonder, the devil of the high wires. Of course, back then, the crowd always assumed that his devilish features were all just a costume.

Then an amazing opportunity was presented to Kurt, a chance to travel to America and study at Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters. An entire school made specifically for mutants such as himself. A place where he wouldn't feel as if he had to hide who he really was. And while he still stood out, being the only student with such obvious physical mutations, he finally felt that he was in a place that would accept him.

While his years here at the Institute were both wonderful and challenging, especially this last year as the school had been "outed" to the public, Kurt had still felt that he had found a place where he truly belonged.

Even then, when he didn't think it could ever feel more perfect, along came a miracle, in the form of his friendship with Katherine "Kitty" Pryde. Nowhere in all his years had he ever felt more that he was in the right place, then when he was beside his best friend. And he was recently pleased to find out that it could only get better as he discovered the joy of kissing her.

It was their senior prom, and here he was kissing Kitty, the girl of his dreams as he stood on the dance floor completely unmasked by his hologram. It was a moment he was currently committing to memory. He wished it would never end.

"Hey freak!" A voice called out from the distant crowd, effectively ruining the moment and snapping Kurt out of his day dreams.

Kurt reluctantly ended the kiss, looking up to see a group of kids pushing their way through the crowd towards he and Kitty.

"What the hell do you think you're doing freak? You don't belong here!"

Kurt's eyes narrowed in anger, but he managed to hold his tongue.

"He has every right to be here as any other senior!" Kitty spat out at them.

"We weren't talking to you mutie. Although you're not much better, you mutie slut!"

"Hey!" Kurt shouted at the nearest of the bunch, just as he was struck across the jaw, by the leader of the pack, Alan Davis, causing him to stumble back.

Alan smiled smugly to himself as he turned back to his posse. He moved as though he was about to bow down towards his friends, but before he had the chance his own face was struck, quite forcibly by Kitty's fist.

The petite girl knew how to throw a punch and he found himself on the floor with his nose bleeding furiously.

"Asshole." Kitty state triumphantly as she massaged her knuckles.

"I fink you boke my dose!" Davis hollered in pain.

His group of friends started laughing.

"Davis!" A teacher walked out of the crowd towards them, it was Mr. Garner, Kurt's chemistry teacher, who had stopped this particular bully's tormenting before. "You know there's no fighting here, you and your friends need to leave now!"

He pointed to the gym's exit.

"Dis freak boke my dose!" He pointed at Kitty who was standing beside Kurt, who was nursing his bleeding lip.

"Somehow I doubt a girl her size could have done that to you."

Alan's cheeks flushed, but he didn't say anything else. Apparently he no longer felt like arguing the point. She was at least a foot and a half shorter, than him and he probably had a good 50 pounds on her.

"All I saw was you picking a fight with Wagner and throwing a punch." Mr. Garner continued at Alan's silence. "And assuming you don't want to be expelled this close to graduation, I suggest you leave now."

One of the bully's friends gave him a hand to help him up off the floor, and the group reluctantly left the gym. The nearby students who had been witnessing the scene began to cheer as they exited.

Mr. Garner watched them before turning back to Kurt and Kitty.

"Way to put your weight behind it." He smiled at Kitty. "Why don't you go get some ice for your hand, I'm sure it hurts, that kid has got one thick skull."

Kitty smiled shyly.

"Thanks Mr. Garner, but I'm fine."

"Ok then. Well, be safe you two and enjoy the rest of your dance." He smiled as he walked away, back into the crowd of students.

"Zhat vas amazing!" Kurt exclaimed.

Kitty just laughed. "That guy had it coming." Her expression soften and she asked, "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, he punches like a girl... er, most girls." He started to laugh and then winced a little as it pulled his lip.

"C'mon let's go get you cleaned up before you get blood on your nice new suit."

She took him by the hand and led him through a door in the back of the gymnasium that went to the locker rooms. She pulled him into the Women's rolling her eyes as he made a few remarks about being scandalous.

The room was empty and the lights flickered on as they entered. Kitty grabbed a paper towel and wet it in the sink before moving beside Kurt who was sitting on one of the large benches running down the center of the room. She leaned forward and gently placed the towel on his swollen lip.

"It doesn't look too bad." She said softly, as she dabbed away the blood.

She examined him, noting the small puncture wound just inside his lower lip, probably from one of his sharp canines. It had already stopped bleeding.

"So, vill I live?" Kurt asked smiling as Kitty seemed to have finished her examination.

"I think you'll make it." She smiled back, tossing the paper towel into the garbage can in the corner and then sitting beside him on the bench.

"Thanks for standing up for me." He said softly, looking into her eyes.

"I was worried that I may have bruised your male ego in the process."

"Nah, you just proved zhat I have the best friend in the world!"

She looked up at him smiling, and then a shy expression crossed her face.

"Kurt," She started quietly. "what would you think about being more than just friends?" Her gaze traveled down to her hands as they played nervously with the hem of her dress.

"Keety." He took her fidgety hands in his and she looked up into his eyes. "You know zhat I care for you as more than just a friend. I just, I never thought..." He paused to gather his thoughts.

"Your friendship has been the best thing zhat has ever happened to me. I vas not willing to sacrifice it. Vhy vould anyone as amazing and as beautiful as you vant to be vith someone like me? You could have anyone that you vant."

"And I want you, Kurt." She spoke up confidently.

He smiled, stunned silent. They were words that he had longed to hear, but had never expected, never allowed himself to hope that it could really happen.

She placed a soft kiss on his silent lips.

"Because you are amazing." She whispered.

She placed another kiss at the spot where his pointed ears met his suede like cheek.

"And you're beautiful."

She lifted up his three digit hands and gently kissed his knuckles.

"And you are the best friend that I have ever had."

She kept her gaze at his pale yellow eyes that seemed to glow more than usual, glistening with tears that he was fighting to hide.

He enveloped her in a tight hug and clung to her. Never before had he felt so accepted.

A moment passed before Kitty pulled back and placed her hands on either side of his face pulling him into a passionate kiss. She wanted to make sure that there was no way he could doubt just how much he meant to her.

She deepened the kiss and he wrapped an arm behind her back, pulling her closer. Her hands made their way up into his long hair caressing the nape of his neck as she went. His tail snaked it's way around her leg, and she let out a moan as the spaded tip traveled up, tickling her inner thigh.

Neither of them had ever experienced such emotion and raw passion from a simple kiss.

They broke apart for air and Kitty took the opportunity to place delicate kisses along his jaw line.

He moaned her name as he turned to claim her lips again, when suddenly, a loud screeching sound startled them apart.

"What was that?" Kitty whispered, her hand on his chest as she turned toward the sound.

A large crash came next, followed by a horrible groaning and then a rather frightening boom.

The two teens sprang up from the bench, whatever it was, they could feel the vibrations in the ground and it was loud enough to be heard over the blaring music coming from the gym.

Having spent so much time over the last few years practically training to be heroes, their instincts kicked in and they were up and running within an instant. They ran out of the locker rooms to the windows in the hallway and screeched to a stop when they saw the scene outside.

There was a large accident in the road that ran just behind the school. As far as they could tell, a small car had narrowly avoided being plowed down by a large truck and had smashed itself into a light pole. The truck, most likely in an attempt to veer away from the car had managed to roll onto its side.

By now, a few of the other students had trickled out into the hallway to see what the noise had been, it was no wonder that it had been so loud, the two vehicles were almost on top of the school.

"Oh my god!" A student shouted as she pointed out the window.

Sparks were falling from the damaged light pole and seemed to have started a fire beneath the compacted car.

"Call 911!" Someone shouted and a few people flipped out their cell phones.

"There's still someone in that car!" Another student screeched.

"Kurt." Kitty turned to him, but didn't have to finish her thought. Still tethered by their powers, Kurt took her hand and teleported them both within a few feet of the car.

As soon as they reappeared they were struck by the overwhelming heat coming from the fire.

"Help! I'm stuck!" A familiar voice shouted from the car, Kitty recognized it as the same voice that had been tormenting them earlier, Alan Davis.

"I'll get him, make sure the truck driver is ok." Kitty said, without hesitation.

"Be careful." Kurt replied and ran off towards the truck on all fours.

Kitty ran at the car, phasing as soon as the heat was too much. Eventually the heat from the fire would effect intangible molecules just as much as tangible ones, but luckily for Kitty, it took quite a bit longer, so as long as she was quick, she would be safe. She prayed that her powers would cooperate for the time being.

"Help!" Alan screamed out again before he saw Kitty in the window. She reached through the side of the car and grabbed the collar of his shirt, just as the window exploded from the heat. He flinched as shards of glass passed harmlessly through his now intangible body. Kitty unceremoniously yanked and pulled him out of the car. His leg which had been trapped in the crushed metal, passed through it with ease.

She managed to help him, as he leaned on her as a crutch until she got him a ways from the car and a few other students ran over to take him.

By then most of the school had come outside to see what the noise was. She noticed Rogue and Bobby running towards her.

"What happened girl? You guys alright?" Rogue yelled over the commotion.

"I'll try to calm the fire!" Bobby yelled and kept on running past them towards the flaming car.

Kitty coughed as she tried to tell Rogue what was going on. Even when she was intangible, she still needed to breath and had managed to inhale a decent amount of smoke.

"See... Kurt?" She managed to cough out as she started to move in the direction of the truck.

Just then, he reappeared beside her, along with the driver of the truck and gently helped him to the ground. The driver just stared at Kurt with a terrified look on his face.

"Help! Demon!" He muttered.

"He just saved yer life ya know, you ungrateful piece of s-" Rogue started, but was cut short by Kurt.

"Now is not the time meine schwester."

"Are you kids ok?" Mr. Garner called out as he pushed his way through the chaos to get to them.

Kurt turned to them with concern on his features.

"Zhat truck is full of flammable materials." His tone revealed the seriousness of the situation.

"Oh God." Mr. Garner muttered.

"Bobby, can you get that fire out?" Rogue yelled over the chaos.

"It's too hot! I can slow it down, but not before it spreads to that truck! There's fuel all over the road!"

"I can hear sirens." Mr. Garner added. "The firemen will be here any minute."

"They von't make it." Kurt replied.

"Then we've got to get everyone out of here!" He shouted.

"No ve've got to get zhat truck out of here!" Kurt stated.

"Kurt, you're not thinking of teleporting it?" Kitty was frantic. "There's no way! It's too much mass for you to move!"

"I can if you help me."

"What?" Both Kitty and Rogue questioned in unison.

"If you can phase the truck, I should be able to teleport us away."

"Wait!" Rogue hollered. "Even if you could, where would you take it?"

"There's a new housing development being put in just North of here, it's still just cleared land." Mr. Garner threw out. He wasn't entirely sure what his students were planning, but he was pretty certain that they were their only hope at this point.

"Of course!" Kurt yelled, they drove past that soon to be neighborhood everyday. It was still just vacant lots, nothing around but dirt. And it was close enough that he had a pretty good chance of making it.

"Um, whatever you guys are planning, you better do it fast!" Bobby yelled.

The pools of burning gasoline were now mere feet from the large tanker truck.

Kurt looked Kitty in the eye.

"Trust me?"

"Of course."

And he took her hand and 'ported them away.

end chapter 17 - 'too perfect to last'

Sorry, I know I always seem to put chapter breaks in at the most inconvenient times, but I knew it had been a while since I posted and I wasn't quite ready with the next one, so this is what you get:)

Thanks to the anonymous reviewer that gave me the German language tips. I seriously use a program to translate phrases into German for me. Eventually I will go back and make corrections in previous chapters. If you or anyone else would like to check over my use of the language BEFORE I post it, that would be awesome! Just contact me via email, queequegg (at) mac (dot) com

Thanks to everyone for reading and a special thanks to everyone that reviews! I truly appreciate it:)

More to come soon!


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